Table Of ContentFrontiers in Sociology and Social Research 5
Series Editor: Richard Serpe
Thomas Chesney
Agent-Based
Modelling of
Worker
Exploitation
Slave from the Machine
Frontiers in Sociology and Social Research
Volume 5
SeriesEditor
RichardSerpe,DepartmentofSociology,KentUniversity,Kent,OH,USA
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Thomas Chesney
Agent-Based Modelling
of Worker Exploitation
Slave from the Machine
ThomasChesney
UniversityofNottingham
Nottingham,UK
ISSN2523-3424 ISSN2523-3432 (electronic)
FrontiersinSociologyandSocialResearch
ISBN978-3-030-75133-3 ISBN978-3-030-75134-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75134-0
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Computationalsocialscientistshavea
saying:
Don’t TrustYourComputer.
Well, theydon’t...
...butmaybetheyshould.
followingEpstein&Axtell,
thisbookisdedicatedto the
memoryof myfather,and toJoseph
Foreword
Research on the topic of sustainability in business and organisations is challeng-
ing. Empirical research such as case studies can generate insightful description
and analysis of the phenomenon, however, usually without providing tools for
experimentation,strategicguidanceordecision-supporttomanagers.Mathematical
modellingresearchcoulddeliverthisbutoftenstruggleswithsufficientlygrasping
the complexity and context of the subject under investigation. Thus modelling is
oftendetachedfromtheempiricalconditionstobecomeapowerfultoolforadvanc-
ing transformation towards sustainability. Coming the way of empirical supply
chainandoperationsmanagementresearch,Ibecameawareofthisdilemmawhich
spurred some methodological wanderings, particularly towards decision-support
techniquessuchasanalyticalhierarchyprocess(AHP)andmodellingtoolssuchas
systemdynamics(SD)andtoalessextentagent-basedmodelling.Iappreciatedthe
increasedaccuracyandconcisenesswhichcome,forexample,withtheformulation
of a relationship between two variables as mathematical equation compared to
merely linguistic descriptions of this relationship based on words and grammar.
At the same time, I strived for a strong empirical grounding of those methods
(by basing them on primary and secondary data) and for combining them with
other research designs such as qualitative case study research. These endeavours
have been first attempts to walk on new grounds that are more appropriate to the
normative mission of research for sustainability, and they have not incorporated
matureresearchprotocolsyet.
It was a coincidence that I met Thomas when I started developingmy interest
fortheissueofmodernslaveryattheUniversityofNottingham,UnitedKingdom,
in 2014. Then an assistant professor of informationsystems, he was an academic
colleague. He had just become passionate about the topic of labour exploitation
andmodernslaveryaroundthesametime.TogetherwithAlexanderTrautrims,we
shared thoughts and inspiration during occasional campus walks. Similar to the
issue of sustainable development of business and society in general, instances of
labourexploitationandworkplaceabusearedistinctlycharacterisedbycomplexity
deriving from structure, inter-human interaction, and context. In addition, the
phenomenaareoftenhiddenbyfactorygates,humanstruggleforsurvival,orguilt
ix
x Foreword
andshame,andthusprimarydatacollectionturnsouttobedifficultandsometimes
dangerous and/or ethically problematic. In such complication of things, doing
research and finding pathways towards decent work requires new theoretical and
methodological angles. Thomas convinced me about the potential of agent-based
modelling as a tool of computational social science that is particularly apposite
for management and sustainability research. This philosophy of agent modelling
applied to workplace abuse as laid out in this book contains several hooks that
will enable readers who are interested or already engaged in social science and
sustainability research to think twice and deep. This philosophypostulates agent-
based modelling as an experimental research design that allows for profound
analysisandexperimentalunderstandingofthephenomenonoflabourexploitation,
and related strategies of remediation. Furthermore, the book gives a couple of
powerful examples of application as well as useful practical guidance on how to
designanddoresearchwithagentmodels.
Thomas and I have not only shared random walks on Nottingham University
Business School’s Jubilee Campus but we have also been engaging in a couple
of jointstudies in the broaderfield of managementand labourissues, where I got
moreintimatelyacquaintedwiththecharacteristicsofagentmodellingasaresearch
method. For me, the power of agent-based modelling resides in its suitability
as a complement for and a bridge to other methods as it can be connected to
empiricalresearch as well as other modellingtypes such as system dynamics;for
example, AnyLogic is such a multi-method simulation tool that connects agent-
based modelling with system dynamics and discrete-event process modelling. In
this way, agent-based modelling allows for methodological integration and, if
applied for validation reasons, methodological triangulation. At the same time, it
may help refuting, corroborating or refining theory that has been formulated on
conceptual reasoning or empirical data, for example regarding its assumptions,
hypotheses and boundary conditions. In this sense, agent-based modelling may
stepinascomplementarymethodinsituationswhereempiricalresearchisdifficult
or dangerous, as is the case regarding various research problems in the field of
modernslavery.Finally,agent-basedmodellingmayalsorepresentapowerfultool
forresearchthatprovidesprescriptionandguidancetomanagersandotherdecision
makers; for this purpose, we designed agent modelling as a tool of decentralised
shadowaccountingthatmaybefedbyindividualobservatorydataofcustomersof
UKcarwashesandcouldbeusedbypoliceauthorities.
Inanutshell,thecurrentbookopensexcitingavenuesforcomputationalsustain-
abilityresearchthroughagent-basedmodels.Itwillinspirereaderstoembarkonto
their own exploratory journeys of research on labour exploitation, sustainability
managementandbeyond.
Kassel,Germany StefanGold
2020
Preface
Fewpeopleeverreadtheprefacesothisonewillbeshort.SlavefromtheMachine
emerged from a series of agent-based models that were created between summer
2017 and spring 2020 to illustrate how minimum wage abuses might arise in
an industry. The work was a research programme within the Rights Lab at the
UniversityofNottingham.ThetextisinspiredbyWilliamSimsBainbridge’sbook
God from the Machine,but owes a debtto Growing Artificial Societies by Joshua
EpsteinandRobertAxtell.MythinkingwasheavilyinfluencedbyEricWinsberg,
andcomputercodethatWilliamSimsBainbridgekindlysharedwithmewhenIfirst
startedworkingwithagentmodels(itwaswritteninDelphiIthink).
The book’spurpose is to illustrate the potential for computersimulation in the
studyofmodernslaveryandbyextensionsocialscienceingeneral,andtolayout
a philosophy of how it can be used. It will also introduce agent programming to
anyreaderwhocarestofollowthecodingsections.Thosethatdowillbelearning
NetLogo,apopularandfreeagentmodellingenvironment.
Part I presents the philosophy of using agent models to create knowledge. It
is a personalphilosophy,one that I have come to from using agent modelling for
research,andmuchofwhatissaidisopentodebate.PartIIillustratesitsusewitha
seriesofmodelsincludedtopresentaspectsof,andissuesaround,modellingworker
exploitation.Theintentionisnotprimarilytodocumentresearchresultsbuttoallow
forarichdiscussionofusingagentmodellingasamethod.PartIIIthencoverssome
practicalaspectsoffollowingthisresearchmethod.
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