Impact of meta-roles on the evolution of organisational institutions

TL;DR

This paper explores how changes in agents' beliefs and meta-roles influence the evolution of institutions, using a BDI-based model and historical simulations of trading societies to demonstrate the dynamics involved.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model embedding agents' meta-roles within the BDI architecture to analyze institutional evolution driven by cognitive dissonance and role changes.

Findings

Role changes and institutional characteristics lead to rule modifications.

Simulation of historical trading societies demonstrates the model's applicability.

Meta-roles significantly impact institutional evolution processes.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of changes in agents' beliefs coupled with dynamics in agents' meta-roles on the evolution of institutions. The study embeds agents' meta-roles in the BDI architecture. In this context, the study scrutinises the impact of cognitive dissonance in agents due to unfairness of institutions. To showcase our model, two historical long-distance trading societies, namely Armenian merchants of New-Julfa and the English East India Company are simulated. Results show how change in roles of agents coupled with specific institutional characteristics leads to changes of the rules in the system.