Model Description
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chitwanabm is an agent-based model of the Western Chitwan Valley, Nepal. The
model represents a subset of the population of the Valley using a number of
agent types (person, household and neighborhood agents), environmental
variables (topography, land use and land cover) and social context variables.
Construction of the model is supported as part of an ongoing National Science
Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education (NSF PIRE)
project `(grant OISE 0729709) <http://pire.psc.isr.umich.edu>`_ investigating
human-environment interactions in the Western Chitwan Valley. Development of
the model is in progress, and model documentation is still incomplete.
See the `chitwanabm website
<http://rohan.sdsu.edu/~zvoleff/research/chitwanabm>`_ for more information,
past releases, publications, and recent presentations.
.. note:: The model requires restricted access survey data from the
Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS) to run. See the `Interuniversity
Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) page on the CVFS
<http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04538>`_ for more information.
Getting the Code
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Stable releases of chitwanabm are available from the `Python Package Index
(PyPI) <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/chitwanabm>`_.
The latest version of the code (unstable) is available as a `zipped snapshot
from Github <https://github.com/azvoleff/chitwanabm/zipball/master>`_.
You can also `browse the source at GitHub
<https://github.com/azvoleff/chitwanabm>`_.
The source can also be downloaded via git from::
git://github.com/azvoleff/chitwanabm.git
Author Contact Information
_______________________________________________________________________________
| Alex Zvoleff
| SDSU/UCSB Joint Doctoral Candidate
| Department of Geography
| San Diego State University
| 5500 Campanile Dr.
| San Diego, CA 92182-4493
| Email: azvoleff@mail.sdsu.edu
References
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The chitwanabm is based off of extensive work done as a part of the Chitwan
Valley Family Study. The Chitwan Valley Family Study dataset can be cited
as:
Axinn, William G., Arland Thornton, Jennifer S. Barber, Susan A. Murphy,
Dirgha Ghimire, Thomas Fricke, Stephen Matthews, Dharma Dangol, Lisa Pearce,
Ann Biddlecom, Sundar Shrestha, and Douglas Massey. Chitwan Valley [Nepal]
Family Study: Changing Social Contexts and Family Formation [Computer file].
ICPSR04538-v7. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and
Social Research [distributor], 2011-09-06.
The parameterizations used in the model are based in part off of the works
listed below:
- Axinn, W. G., and D. J. Ghimire. 2011. Social Organization, Population, and
Land Use. American Journal of Sociology 117 (1).
- Biddlecom, A. E.; Axinn, W. G. & Barber, J. S. (2005), 'Environmental Effects
on Family Size Preferences and Subsequent Reproductive Behavior in Nepal',
Population & Environment 26(3), 583-621.
- Ghimire, D. & Mohai, P. (2005), 'Environmentalism and Contraceptive Use: How
people in less developed settings approach environmental issues', Population
& Environment 27(1), 29-61.
- Ghimire, D. J., and W. G. Axinn. 2010. Community context, land use, and first
birth. Rural Sociology 75 (3):478-513.
- Ghimire, D. J. & Hoelter, L. F. (2007), 'Land use and first birth timing in
an agricultural setting', Population & Environment 28, 289-320.
- Massey, D. S., W. G. Axinn, and D. J. Ghimire. 2010. Environmental change and
out-migration: evidence from Nepal. Population and Environment.
- Yabiku, S. (2006), 'Land Use and Marriage Timing in Nepal', Population &
Environment 27(5), 445-461.
- Yabiku, S. (2006), 'Neighbors and neighborhoods: effects on marriage timing',
Population Research and Policy Review 25(4), 305-327.