About

The Radboud University Centre for Analytical Modelling is a growing, interdisciplinary research centre, connecting academics working in the Social Sciences and Humanities that share an interest in mathematically formalising their work. The Centre is jointly domiciled in the Economics Department (Institute of Management Research) and Mathematics Department (Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics).

When is Analytical Modelling useful?

Analytical Modelling techniques are versatile tools. Two projects currently in our portfolio:

• Decline of Democracy - deepening our understanding of current political phenomena like protectionism, populism or political polarization in connection with, for instance, Brexit or Donald Trump; it may illuminate appropriate policies to prevent the decline of democracy; and
• Universal Basic Income - capturing the countervailing incentive effects of a UBI system; are people incentivised to work more, or do people shirk their responsibilities as a result of receiving guaranteed payments?

What is Analytical Modelling?

Analytical Modeling is a methodological approach that mathematically conceptualises and explores core mechanisms of real-world phenomena. As analytical modelers, we focus on:

• Evaluating core components of empirical studies, choosing an appropriate mathematical toolkit, and forming (mathematical) axioms and definitions;
• Investigating mathematical behaviour and deriving results within the confines of the analytical model to form propositions, lemmas and theorems; and
• Comparing the model to real-world-behaviour, illustrating mechanisms and tradeoffs, thereby empowering the scientific community to better explore the topic.

Centre Operations

There are four core operations of the Centre:

1. Internal projects:
   Current topics:
   - Decline of Democracy; and
   - Universal Basic Income

2. External projects:
   Centre-Initiated Collaborations:
   - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Metric Design; and
   - Measures of Market Efficiency in Financial Datasets
   
   Externally-Initiated Collaborations
   - Game Theoretical Framework for Multi-Municipality Collaboration

3. Seminars:
   Organising seminars at the nexus of Economics and Mathematics

4. Teaching:
   Potential future initiative. Developing modules and/or a Masters program