On the Emergence of Possession Norms in Agent Societies

Our paper studies the emergence of social norms and their subsequent influence in a simulated society of artificial agents. These norms and their propagation in a society is put in close relation with the meme concept of Dawkins. In particular, the norms studied in this paper are concerned with the possession of goods. Here a global norm regarding possession of goods may result from the collective dynamics of the society and arise from purely local agent interactions. The role of sanctions and costs of enforcing sanctions and their relationship to the establishment of a possession norm are studied