History Matters: Modelling Path Dependence on a Spreadsheet

This paper explores methods of simulating Polya Urn Models using a spreadsheet. The Polya Urn model provides a statistical model of path dependent behaviour where the final equilibrium is determined by random chance or historical accident.

[1]  P. David Clio and the Economics of QWERTY , 1985 .

[2]  C. Kindleberger Standards as Public, Collective and Private Goods , 1983 .

[3]  W. Arthur,et al.  Increasing returns and the new world of business. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[4]  John D. Sterman,et al.  System Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World , 2002 .

[5]  A. Secchi,et al.  Why are distributions of firm growth rates tent-shaped? , 2003 .

[6]  Paul Windrum,et al.  Leveraging technological externalities in complex technologies: Microsoft’s exploitation of standards in the browser wars , 2004 .

[7]  Arthur De Vany,et al.  Bose-Einstein Dynamics and Adaptive Contracting in the Motion Picture Industry , 1996 .

[8]  Guy Judge Computing Skills for Economists , 2000 .

[9]  John F. Barlow Excel Models for Business and Operations Management , 1998 .

[10]  Michael Woodroofe,et al.  Stronger Forms of Zipf's Law , 1975 .

[11]  D. North Competing Technologies , Increasing Returns , and Lock-In by Historical Events , 1994 .

[12]  Sheldon M. Ross,et al.  Introduction to probability models , 1975 .

[13]  S. Bikhchandani,et al.  You have printed the following article : A Theory of Fads , Fashion , Custom , and Cultural Change as Informational Cascades , 2007 .

[14]  Norman L. Johnson,et al.  Urn models and their application , 1977 .

[15]  W. Brian Arthur,et al.  Path-dependent processes and the emergence of macro-structure , 1987 .

[16]  R. Cowan Nuclear Power Reactors: A Study in Technological Lock-in , 1990, The Journal of Economic History.

[17]  B Skyrms,et al.  A dynamic model of social network formation. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[18]  Positive Feedback and Path Dependence Using the Law of Large Numbers , 2001 .