Simulating Marriage and Divorce: A Global Perspective

Let's explore a fascinating problem: how do marriages and divorces happen around the world? We're using a unique method called agent-based modeling to figure this out. Imagine a group of people (agents) with different attributes and preferences. They're constantly changing partners or getting married based on a key factor called socio-economic pressure, which is like a force that drives these changes. This model looks at the frequency of partner swaps and the percentage of singles in society. It even considers real-world data from the United Nations and World Value Survey. In the model, agents can start new relationships or swap partners based on how well they match using something called the Manhattan distance. They can also break up spontaneously, depending on the pressure. Even though this model assumes everyone is similar (like on a bipartite graph) and only considers one main factor, it helps us estimate the levels of socio-economic pressure in different societies at specific times. It's like a simple tool that gives us a glimpse into how marriage and divorce dynamics work globally.