Division of labor as the result of phase transition

Jinshan Wu, Zengru Di and Zhanru Yang

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2003, vol. 323, issue C, 663-676

Abstract: The emergence of labor division in a multi-agent system is analyzed by the method of statistical physics. We consider a system consisting of N homogeneous agents. Their behaviors are determined by the returns from their production. Using the Metropolis method in statistical physics, which in this model can be regarded as a kind of uncertainty in decision making, we constructed a Master equation to describe the evolution of the agent's distribution. We introduce an earning function including learning by doing to describe the effect of technical progress and a formula for competitive cooperation. And we also introduce two order parameters to characterize the division behavior. The model gives us the following interesting results: (1) As a result of long-term evolution, the system can reach a steady state. (2) When the parameters exceed a critical point, the division of labor emerges as the result of phase transition. (3) Although the technical progress decides whether or not phase transition occurs, the critical point is strongly affected by the competitive cooperation. From the above physical model and the corresponding results, we can get a more deeply understanding about the labor division.

Keywords: Division of labor; Statistical physics; Phase transition; Metropolis method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437103000530
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:323:y:2003:i:c:p:663-676

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(03)00053-0

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().