Complexity Lab in Economics

The "Complexity Lab in Economics" (CLE) was established in December 2014 to encourage research on the applications of complexity to economic modeling, with special emphasis on ABMs, networks, experiments. Its main research areas are: Macro-financial Agent-Based Models: we aim at building and exploring the properties of macroeconomic models with heterogeneous and interacting agents to study aggregate economic fluctuations and crises. Financial Networks: we aim at building and exploring the properties of networks of borrowing/lending relationships, e.g. among financial institutions or among banks and firms/households. These networks are vehicles for the diffusion of financial contagion and systemic risk. Behavioral macroeconomics: we aim at building and testing macroeconomic models in which agents’ information set and cognitive abilities are limited, emphasizing the role of heterogeneity in expectation formation mechanisms. Laboratory experiments: these models can then be tested by means of laboratory experiments with human subjects. Macroeconomic experiments is an exciting new branch of experimental economics.