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EWG MODEST, Modelling of economies and societies in transition
Last update: 2010-05-11
Update
information
(Restricted access)
The number of the members in the group is currently at about 105. An official meeting, i.e. the next MODEST workshop, is planned for September 2010 in Bydgoszcz, an important city in central-northern Poland, as always - in connection with the national conference of the Polish Operational and Systems Research Society, "BOS". Three leading topics are envisaged for this workshop, related to: (1) ICT and local development; (2) Financial resilience - connectivity, trust and true diversification; (3) The green paradoxes - is there a way out?
In September 2008 the members of the Group actively participated in the previous conference in the series, from which some special journal issues have been published or are under preparation.
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| Coordinator: |
Prof. Zbigniew Nahorski |
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Systems Research Institute
Polish Academy of Sciences
Newelska 6
01-447 Warszawa
Poland |
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| Coordinator: |
Dr. Jan W. Owsinski |
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Systems Research Institute
Polish Academy of Sciences
Newelska 6
01-447 Warszawa
Poland |
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| Newsletter: |
MODEST Newsletter is being issued once or twice a year. Until now twelve issues were produced, the last one in December 2009.
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| Members: |
At around 105 as of Winter 2009/2010. |
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Purpose and history
The MODEST working group convenes specialists in mathematical and computer modelling, who are especially interested in modelling and analysis of the economic and social transformation processes taking place in the modern world, with explicit emphasis on the processes taking place in the Central and Eastern parts of Europe. It is the purpose of the Working Group to be a forum for exchange of ideas and experiences in this domain, and also to identify those areas where the most acute gaps exist and where modelling is feasible, and to formulate as well as promote research projects for such areas. The modelling that MODEST is most interested in is the pragmatic one (whether macro- or micro-economic, simple regression or complex dynamic, analytic or simulation, but oriented at definite currently debated and crucial questions, as well as based upon real data or real-life guesses). Yet, theoretical models (for example, economico-political ones, based on game theory) are by no means excluded from the MODEST's perspective.
The Working Group was established in the Spring of 1994 as an informal body. By Summer 1994, it reached the critical mass in terms of international and interdisciplinary character of the core membership.
In Fall 1994, MODEST was granted affiliation with the Technical Committee of the International Federation of Automatic Control dealing with "Dynamic Modelling of National and Regional Economies", headed by Professor Berc Rustem from London and, following this, it was proposed that Professor Zbigniew Nahorski would serve as the Vice-Chair of this Technical Committee.
In January 1995, MODEST was granted, to our great satisfaction, the Working Group status with EURO. These two affiliations allow the Group to maintain the connection with two international communities, which are essential for the methodology and implementation of modelling approaches and projects.
MODEST is, locally, institutionally assisted by the Polish Operational and System Research Society, The Interfaces Institute Co. in Warsaw, and by the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Past activities
ACTIVITIES 2009:
The previous MODEST Workshop took place in September 2008 in Warsaw, in the framework of the bi-annual national BOS conference of the Polish Operational and Systems Research Society. The papers, presented in the framework of MODEST Workshop, shall appear in two special journal issues, one with the journal Operational Research and Decision Making, published in Wroclaw, Poland (a special English-language issue, no. 4/2009, under the title of "Decision Making in Politics and Business"), and the other one with the British periodical - Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change, under the title of "Corruption and Good Governance".
Let us remind that in 2007 a book was published, resulting from the Group activity, with Palgrave-Macmillan, edited by Zbigniew Nahorski, Jan W. Owsinski and Tomasz Szapiro, with contribution, in particular, of the late Nobel Prize laureate Leonid Hurwicz (see Publications).
Future activities
The next MODEST meeting will take place in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on September 20-22, 2010. An official invitation has been sent out, and the proposals are coming in for papers and presentations.
Publications
New publications shall be added soon. The preceding important book was:
Zbigniew Nahorski, Jan W. Owsinski, Tomasz Szapiro, eds., "The Socio-Economic Transformation: Getting Closer to What?". Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007, ISBN 13: 978-0-230-00794-9.
The book contains the following chapters:
Leonid Hurwicz: An Essay in Modelling of Institutional Change
Philipp J.H. Schroeder: When do Stakes in Restructuring put Restructuring at Stake
Thorvaldur Gylfason: Privatization, Efficiency, and Economic Growth
Jan W. Owsinski: How the System Worked, or: The Herring Barrel Metaphor
Jean-Luc Schneider: Transition and Stability of Redistribution Policies
Scott L. Baier and Gerhard Glomm: Fiscal Policy and Transition: The Case of Poland
Milan Zeleny: Knowledge Management and the Strategies of Global Business Education: From Knowledge to Wisdom
Mikhail Mikhalevich: Modelling of the Labour Market in a Transition Economy
A book is also available from one of the past MODEST Workshops:
Jan W. Owsinski, editor, MODEST 2002: Transition & Transformation: Porblems and Models. The Interfaces Institute for MODEST, Warsaw 2002, 210 pages, ISBN 83-85847-77-4.
The book can be ordered from the Publications Department of the Systems Research Institute: Ms. Joanna Runowska, Systems Research Institute, Newelska 6, 01-447 Warszawa, Poland (Joanna.Runowska@ibspan.waw.pl), for 20 EUR plus postage.
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