“We seek to aggregate the behaviour of individuals in order to predict the behaviour of organisations or networks.”

With the publication of “The Oxford Handbook of Agent-Based Computational Management Science” in February 2026, Friederike Wall, Shu-Heng Chen, and Stephan Leitner present the first comprehensive handbook on agent-based modelling in management science. In this interview, Wall and Leitner explain how they model individual behaviour through agents and how this approach enables them to explain and anticipate the behaviour of entire systems.

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Data-driven fleet planning: How many vehicles does a company need to deploy?

How many delivery vehicles does a company really need, and which vehicle configurations make sense throughout the year? This question poses major challenges for corporate logistics departments. Christian Truden (University of Klagenfurt) and Mike Hewitt (Loyola University Chicago) have now developed a new data-driven approach that shows how vehicle fleets can be planned efficiently even under strongly fluctuating demand and pronounced seasonality.

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Integrating the circular economy into existing economic models

The circular economy concept aims to use resources sustainably as a way to reduce harm to the environment. Although the notion of the circular economy is well established and frequently invoked in political discourse, its true economic significance and precise definition remain unclear above and beyond the familiar, often superficial statements. Paul Schweinzer (University of Klagenfurt) and Zaifu Yang (University of York) intend to change this: In the FWF-funded project “Circular Competitive Equilibrium”, they are seeking ways to combine the idea of a circular economy with the well-developed economic concepts of decentralized competition and private property.

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From handwritten file cards to electronic health records: how widely accepted are electronic health records?

Why are many doctors and patients sceptical about systems such as ELGA (electronic health records), and which countries have succeeded in introducing effective systems? Anna Griesser recently completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Klagenfurt (Department of Business Management), in which she examined the factors that promote and inhibit the acceptance of electronic health records.

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