Simulation of intermediation using rich cognitive agents

In trading networks many elements determine the success of the network. They can be economic, social, personal, structural, environmental, etc. In many simulation frameworks only one of these elements is considered. However we argue that it is exactly the interaction between the different types of elements that is interesting when considering the mediation of business processes. Whether a mediator has a right of existence does not just depend on the quality of his service, but also on the social structure between suppliers and users, the communication infrastructure, etc. In this paper we propose an agent-based simulation framework in which this type of situations can be studied and we show an example of its use in a simulation of the house market. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.