An agent-based information management model of the Chinese pig sector

This paper investigates the effect of a selected top-down measure (what-if scenario) on actual agent behaviour and total system behaviour by means of an agent-based simulation model, when agents’ behaviour cannot fully be managed because the agents are autonomous. The Chinese pork sector serves as case. A multi-level perspective is adopted: the top-down information management measures for improving pork quality, the variation in individual farmer behaviour, and the interaction structures with supply chain partners, governmental representatives and peer farmers. To improve quality, farmers need information, which they can obtain from peers, suppliers and government. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their personal situation initiates change of behaviour. Aspects of personality and culture affect the agents’ evaluations, decisions and actions. Results indicate that both incentive (demand) and the possibility to move (quality level within reach) on farmer level are requirements for an increase of total system quality. A more informative governmental representative enhances this effect.

[1]  R. R. Abidin.  Psychological Assessment Resources , 1995 .

[2]  Jacinto F. Fabiosa,et al.  Case Study of China's Commercial Pork Value Chain, A , 2005 .

[3]  Catholijn M. Jonker,et al.  Computational Modeling of Culture's Consequences , 2010, MABS.

[4]  G. J. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Third Millennium Edition , 2005 .

[5]  Lynne Hamill,et al.  Social Circles: A Simple Structure for Agent-Based Social Network Models , 2009, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[6]  S. C. L. Koh,et al.  Information flow and supply chain management in local production networks: the role of people and information systems , 2005 .

[7]  Abigail R. Jahiel.  The Organization of Environmental Protection in China , 1998, The China Quarterly.

[8]  B. Erickson,et al.  Transfer of Knowledge on Agroforestry Management Practices: the Structure of Farmer Advice Networks , 2007 .

[9]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1991 .

[10]  Gert Jan Hofstede,et al.  An agent-based model of information management in the Chinese pig sector: top-down versus bottom-up (on memory stick) , 2010 .

[11]  M. R. Kramer,et al.  An agent-based model of information management in the Chinese pig sector: top-down versus bottom-up , 2010 .

[12]  M. V. Dignum,et al.  A Model for Organizational Interaction: based on Agents, founded in Logic , 2000 .

[13]  Arthur A. Harlow.  The Hog Cycle and the Cobweb Theorem , 1960 .

[14]  Mieke Uyttendaele,et al.  Wageningen Academic Publishers , 2005 .

[15]  John Seely Brown,et al.  Book Reviews : The Social Life of Information By John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. 320 pages , 2000 .

[16]  Hualiang Lu,et al.  The role of guanxi in buyer-seller relationships in China: A survey of vegetable supply chains in Jiangsu Province , 2007 .

[17]  P. Costa,et al.  NEO inventories for the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3), NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) : professional manual , 2010 .

[18]  Scott Moss,et al.  Policy analysis from first principles , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.