A Computational Model of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework

TL;DR

This paper develops a computational model of the IAD framework, enabling formal analysis of social interactions and rule configurations to predict outcomes and assess social desirability using game theory tools.

Contribution

It introduces the Action Situation Language (ASL) and a game engine to formalize and analyze the IAD framework computationally for the first time.

Findings

ASL allows detailed formal descriptions of social interactions.

The model can predict incentivized outcomes based on rule configurations.

Analysis helps evaluate social desirability of different institutional arrangements.

Abstract

The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework is a conceptual toolbox put forward by Elinor Ostrom and colleagues in an effort to identify and delineate the universal common variables that structure the immense variety of human interactions. The framework identifies rules as one of the core concepts to determine the structure of interactions, and acknowledges their potential to steer a community towards more beneficial and socially desirable outcomes. This work presents the first attempt to turn the IAD framework into a computational model to allow communities of agents to formally perform what-if analysis on a given rule configuration. To do so, we define the Action Situation Language -- or ASL -- whose syntax is hgighly tailored to the components of the IAD framework and that we use to write descriptions of social interactions. ASL is complemented by a game engine that generates its semantics as an extensive-form game. These models, then, can be analyzed with the standard tools of game theory to predict which outcomes are being most incentivized, and evaluated according to their socially relevant properties.