Adaptive learning by genetic algorithms. Analytical results and applications to economic models. (Q4950392)

For a review of the original ed. (Springer 1996) see Zbl 0870.90051. The book deals with the learning behavior of boundedly rational agents in economic systems. In particular, the modeling of learning populations by genetic algorithms is studied in detail. After the introductory first chapter, in Chapter 2 the importance of adaptive learning models in economics is discussed in general and applications of computational intelligence techniques in economic systems are presented. An introduction to Genetic Algorithms (GA), the review of the most important analytical results concerning GAs and the economic interpretation of this adaptive learning model form the content of the third chapter. Chapter 4 is an application of GAs to economic systems presented in the form a Markov model. This mathematical analysis proceeds in the general framework of systems with a state dependent fitness function. It is shown that co-evolutionary economic models typically fall into this class and the usefulness of the analytical results derived is illustrated in several game theoretic (Chapter 5) and microeconomic models (Chapter 6). The mathematical analysis is complemented by extensive simulation analyses. Chapter 7 deals with stability and equilibrium of the studied systems. The book includes three appendices considering the mathematics used in the previous chapters.