A simulation approach to design contracts that govern emergent multi-agent systems

Agent-based normative systems offer the potential for a business to model, understand the consequences of, and then refine contracts to improve the outcomes for that business. In this paper, we combine a simulation technique designed for investigating and tuning emergent behavior in multi-agent systems with an approach to modeling norms of the complexity found in business contracts. We believe that our approach can aid in the refinement of such contracts by exposing the consequences of contract variations.