Agent-Based Modeling for Understanding The Walmart Effect: A Preliminary Study

This paper aims to demonstrate how agent-based models can play an important role in understanding rural shock phenomena in small-town America. We develop agent-based models based on the recent phenomenon, which is the impacts... [ view full abstract ]

This paper aims to demonstrate how agent-based models can play an important role in understanding rural shock phenomena in small-town America. We develop agent-based models based on the recent phenomenon, which is the impacts of Walmart entry and closure in the small towns. What happens when Walmart comes to the small town and what happens when Walmart Left the small town? As a main source of low-price and fresh food for people in the small-town and rural areas, the closure of Walmart has significant impacts for rural communities. The individual and households are exposed to a multitude of risk such as loss of jobs and access to fresh food, increasing food’s price and other stuff, spending more money for the long drive for groceries eats, and the knock-on effects for local businesses that used to tender to workers and shoppers by the supercenter. With agent-based models, we aim to explore how local interactions can generate a new social pattern and behavior of rural people and environment related to the Walmart effect. Agent-based models can efficiently provide an alternative solution through simulation of a complex system. There are several steps to build the model and simulation: (1) Identifying and categorizing agents (2) Specifying their distinct and behavior (actual activities) (3) Specifying the living environment of the agents and the agent’s relations (4) Developing theory related to agent’s interactions in the specific environment (5) Developing essential user’s information and (6) Validate the agent’s behavioral model.

Keywords: agent-based models, complex adaptive social system, Walmart