Español – Home / Capital; an experiment

Tools

(under construction)

• Detailed instructions distributed in the third simulation.

• Production and profit calculator: spreadsheet that agents must systematically use to check whether an exchange or a certain production process is convenient; see slides 11-13 of the detailed instructions above and the "Simulation" section of the paper. 

• Госплан-Gosplan: alternative activity, also as a spreadsheet; see the "Teaching Tool" section of the paper.

Software to run the simulation

Very provisional. We'll be incorporating more advanced software soon.

For now, we are limiting ourselves to very simple mechanisms, using Google Sheets or any spreadsheet service that allows linked forms, but with access through a (free) email account with a password. This only requires that the agents and the administrator have a free account like this, for example on Google, and a computer or mobile phone with internet access.

Advanced method

With this procedure, agents can dynamically check the amounts they have available through exchanges. The administrator and agents must have a (free) Google account. It is designed for up to 100 agents and 500 deliveries per session.

• Before a session:

  1. The administrator clicks
     https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11uQIgby6MH69quf1ij37H-Gn8ZIrKYFlXypZJajBnts/copy and on the page that opens, clicks the "Make a copy" button. This will generate a copy of the capital spreadsheet and the delivery and production forms in their Drive account.

  2. By default, the 'Copy of capital' spreadsheet opens. The administrator types, or copies and pastes, the agents' email addresses and the initial quantities of wheat and iron they have available into that spreadsheet.

  3. In the spreadsheet, the administrator clicks the "Share" button. Under "General Access," they set "Anyone with the link" as "Reader," click "Copy Link," and then click the "Done" button. The administrator distributes the copied link (via email, WhatsApp, etc.) to the agents.

• During the exchange period:

  1. The administrator logs into their Drive  account, open the form called 'Copy of capital, deliveries', or similar.

  2. The administrator selects the "Copy Respondent Link" icon at the top and distributes the link (via email, WhatsApp, etc.) to the agents. This enables agents to initiate submissions, which they can dynamically view in the 'Copy of capital' spreadsheet.

  3. Once the submission phase is complete, the administrator deletes the submission form from their Drive; agents will no longer be able to submit submissions.

• During the production period:

  1. In  Drive, the administrator open the form called 'Copy of capital, production', or similar.

  2. Choose "Copy Respondent Link" and distributes the copied link for the production form to the agents. This enables agents to complete the production; they will not be able to view other agents' submissions and will only be able to use the form once.

  3. Once the production phase is complete, the administrator deletes the production form from their Drive; agents who have not done so will not be able to define their production below.

  4. The administrator must activate the hidden "Production" sheet in 'Copy of capital' and agents will be able to view the production available for the next session.

Simpler, but limited, method

This procedure is the simplest, but agents can't dynamically know what quantities they have available after a delivery, unless they keep track themselves or use the delivery calculator by copying and pasting.

• Delivery calculator: spreadsheet to calculate the quantities available to each agent with the succession of exchanges:

  • For up to 100 agents and 500 deliveries (5 Mb);

  • For up to 200 agents and 1000 deliveries (19 Mb).

• Before each session, the administrator generates:

1. A delivery form, with password access, where the agent making the delivery is automatically identified, and the agent then selects the agent who receives each delivery, along with the quantities of wheat and iron delivered. Optionally, the linked spreadsheet can be viewed but not edited by agents, so they can check the dynamic deliveries.

2. A production form, where the agent who performs the production automatically is listed, and where the agent chooses the production process. The form must be accessed with a password, and the linked spreadsheet cannot be publicly viewed or edited.

• In each session:

1. During the time dedicated to exchanges, access to the delivery form is granted. Once the exchange time has elapsed, the administrator closes access to this form.

2. During the time dedicated to production, access to the production form is granted. Once the production time has elapsed, the administrator closes access to the form.

• Once the session is over:

1. The administrator copies and pastes the agents' names or email addresses, the quantities of wheat and iron available before deliveries, and the data from both forms into the delivery calculator. This will calculate the deliveries, discarding illegal ones, and calculate the production available for the next session. The delivery calculator allows users to view, but not edit, the quantities available for the next session on the website.

Español – Home / Capital; an experiment