In this talk, Luis Bettencourt will discuss several recent empirical results on decisions and sorting mechanisms in complex urban environments. Examples range from residential choice and the varying effects of income and identity, mental health and social interactions, and implicit racial biases. In all cases, outcomes depend on socioeconomic exposure to complex environments in systematic ways, informing behavioral theory and agent-based models.
Time permitting, he will also discuss proposals to generalize decision theory beyond standard paradigms to situations that require strategic reasoning under uncertainty and constraints on agency, towards better matching evidence in psychological experiments and aggregate socioeconomic outcomes.
Luís M. A. Bettencourt is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution and the College at the University of Chicago. He is also Associate Faculty of the Department of Sociology and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute.
His research focuses on the theory and modeling of complex systems and the processes that underlie the structure and growth of cities, in particular. He connects interdisciplinary concepts and advanced mathematics with new technologies and data to create new systems’ theory and methods. This work also involves collaborations with governments, NGOs, and interdisciplinary researchers worldwide to co-produce new insights and transformative practices for sustainable development.
Please register using the form below and contact complexity@inet.ox.ac.uk if you have any queries. Our seminars are run in person and online but are not recorded.