Triple Special Issue
"Micro-Macro Links and Micro-Foundations"
Journal of Mathematical Sociology 35(1-3) 2011
Special Issue Editors: Marcel van Assen, Vincent Buskens, and Werner Raub
The contributions to the special issue focus on two topics: (i) how macro-conditions affect actor behavior at the micro-level and how actor behavior affects macro-outcomes (micro-macro links), and (ii) how different micro-models affect macro-outcomes (micro-foundations). The special issue comprises eight papers:- Werner Raub, Vincent Buskens, and Marcel A. L. M. van Assen. "Micro-Macro Links and Micro-Foundations in Sociology."
- Simon Gächter and Christian Thöni. "Micromotives, Microstructure and Macrobehavior: The Case of Voluntary Cooperation."
- Kazuo Yamaguchi. "Population Heterogeneity and Between-Group Substitutability and Complementarity of Social Actions."
- Arnout van de Rijt. "The Micro-Macro Link for the Theory of Structural Balance."
- Mark Fossett. "Generative Models of Segregation: Investigating Model-Generated Patterns of Residential Segregation by Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status."
- Andreas Flache and Michael W. Macy. "Small Worlds and Cultural Polarization."
- Dirk Helbing, Wenjian Yu, and Heiko Rauhut. "Self-Organization and Emergence in Social Systems. Modeling the Coevolution of Social Environments and Cooperative Behavior."
- Karl-Dieter Opp. "Modeling Micro-Macro Relationships: Problems and Solutions."
The contributions reflect key features of micro-macro modeling in sociology as well as recent progress in this field. The papers address core features of explanations of social phenomena using micro-macro models, the problem of cooperation, heterogeneity of actors, structural balance, opinion formation, segregation, and problems of micro-macro models that are based on rational choice assumptions. Moreover, the contributions show how different research methods can be applied fruitfully, such as laboratory experiments, equilibrium analysis, and agent-based modeling.