Morality, protection, security and gain: lessons from a minimalistic, economically inspired multi-agent model

Abstract In this work, we introduce a simple multi-agent simulation model with two roles of agents that correspond to moral and immoral attitudes. The model is given explicitly by a set of mathematical equations with continuous variables and is characterized by four parameters: morality, protection, and two efficiency parameters. Agents are free to adjust their roles to maximize individual gains. The model is analyzed theoretically to find conditions for its stability, i.e., the fractions of agents of both roles that lead to an equilibrium in their gains. A multi-agent simulation is also developed to verify the dynamics of the model for all values of morality and protection parameters, and to identify potential discrepancies with the theoretical analysis.