IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jmathe/v13y2025i5p785-d1601076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political Competition, Resource Availability, and Conflict: A Simulation

Author

Listed:
  • Troy Siemers

    (Departments of Economics and Business, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 24450, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Atin Basuchoudhary

    (Departments of Economics and Business, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 24450, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics of political competition, resource availability, and conflict through a simulation-based approach. Utilizing agent-based models (ABMs) within an evolutionary game theoretical framework, we investigate how individual behaviors and motivations influence collective outcomes in civil conflicts. Our study builds on the theoretical model developed by Basuchoudhary et al. (2023), which integrates factors such as resource availability, state capacity, and political entrepreneurship to explain the evolution of civil conflict. By simulating boundedly rational agents, we demonstrate how changes in resource availability can alter the nature of civil conflict, leading to different equilibrium outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of understanding individual motivations and adaptive behaviors in predicting the stability and resolution of conflicts. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on the use of agent-based models in evolutionary game theory and provides valuable insights into the complex interactions that drive civil violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Troy Siemers & Atin Basuchoudhary, 2025. "Political Competition, Resource Availability, and Conflict: A Simulation," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:13:y:2025:i:5:p:785-:d:1601076
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/5/785/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/5/785/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fearon, James D., 1995. "Rationalist explanations for war," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(3), pages 379-414, July.
    2. Findley, Michael & Rudloff, Peter, 2012. "Combatant Fragmentation and the Dynamics of Civil Wars," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(4), pages 879-901, October.
    3. Atin Basuchoudhary, 2021. "Why Is Civil Conflict Path Dependent? A Cultural Explanation," Games, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Herbert Gintis, 2014. "The Bounds of Reason: Game Theory and the Unification of the Behavioral Sciences," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10248.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maxime Menuet & Petros G. Sekeris, 2021. "Overconfidence and conflict," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(4), pages 1483-1499, October.
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8m2hh491 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Chang, Yang-Ming & Sanders, Shane & Walia, Bhavneet, 2015. "The costs of conflict: A choice-theoretic, equilibrium analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 62-65.
    4. Charles H. Anderton, 2017. "The bargaining theory of war and peace," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 10-15, October.
    5. Clayton L. Thyne, 2006. "Cheap Signals with Costly Consequences," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 50(6), pages 937-961, December.
    6. Chan, Kenneth S. & Laffargue, Jean-Pierre, 2016. "Plunder and tribute in a Malthusian world," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 138-150.
    7. Austin L. Wright, 2016. "Economic Shocks and Rebel," HiCN Working Papers 232, Households in Conflict Network.
    8. Jillienne Haglund, 2016. "Leslie Johns. 2015. Strengthening international courts: The hidden costs of legalization. (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press)," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 151-154, March.
    9. Garfinkel, Michelle R. & Syropoulos, Constantinos, 2021. "Self-enforcing peace agreements that preserve the status quo," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 148-178.
    10. Eric Sjöberg, 2014. "Settlement under the threat of conflict-The cost of asymmetric information," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2014_02, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    11. Alejandro Quiroz Flores, 2011. "Alliances as Contiguity in Spatial Models of Military Expenditures," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 28(4), pages 402-418, September.
    12. Cattaneo, Cristina & Foreman, Timothy, 2023. "Climate change, international migration, and interstate conflicts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    13. Magnus Lundgren, 2017. "Which type of international organizations can settle civil wars?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 613-641, December.
    14. Blouin, Max & Pallage, Stéphane, 2016. "Warlords, famine and food aid: Who fights, who starves?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-38.
    15. Kjetil Bjorvatn & Alireza Naghavi, 2010. "Rent seekers in rentier states: When greed brings peace," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 039, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    16. Herbst, Luisa & Konrad, Kai A. & Morath, Florian, 2017. "Balance of power and the propensity of conflict," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 168-184.
    17. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    18. Yuleng Zeng, 2020. "Bluff to peace: How economic dependence promotes peace despite increasing deception and uncertainty," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(6), pages 633-654, November.
    19. Jonathan M. DiCicco & Jack S. Levy, 1999. "Power Shifts and Problem Shifts," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 43(6), pages 675-704, December.
    20. Faisal Z. Ahmed, 2022. "From grievances to civil war: The impact of geopolitics," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 427-451, July.
    21. Azam, Jean-Paul, 2023. "Was Lucifer a Gambler? A Rational-Choice Hermeneutic of Peter Olivi’s Treatise on Demons," TSE Working Papers 23-1483, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Nov 2024.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:13:y:2025:i:5:p:785-:d:1601076. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.