USING SIMULATIONS FOR STUDYING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND INDUSTRY EVOLUTION: A COMPARISON BETWEEN HISTORY – FRIENDLY MODELS AND AGENT-BASED MODELS.

This thesis presents a systematic review of the use of simulations for the study of the origin and implications of innovation and technical change. In particular two approaches are reviewed: the evolutionary approach linked to the so-called ‘History–Friendly’ Models, and the ‘Agent-based model’ approach an established and older approach. The two approaches are evaluated in terms of the fields that the models can explain and the way the models are built up to explain industrial evolution as well as other emerging economic phenomena.

Questa tesi analizza l’uso dei modelli di simulazione per lo studio delle origjni e delle implicazioni economiche dell’innovazione e del cambiamanto tecnologico. Due approcci vengono considerati: i modelli evolutivi esemplificati dall’approccio dei modelli ‘History Friendly’ e l’approccio basato sui modelli ‘Agent based’. I due approcci sono valutati in base agli aspetti su cui si concentrano, la loro struttura, le ipotesi che li contraddistinguono e le spiegazioni che offrono in termini di evoluzione dell’industria e di altri fenpmeni economici.