Aggregated Agent-Based Simulation Model of Migration Flows of the European Union Countries

This article presents the aggregated agent-based simulation model of migration flows of the European Union (EU) countries, implemented in the AnyLogic system, created in the form of an extended “gravity model”, according to which individual decisions by agent-migrants are based on the integrated assessment of socio-economic, geographical and other differentiation of the respective countries. At the same time, some factors ‘attract’ migrants, while others ‘repel’. A distinctive feature of the model is the differentiation of migration flows by the categories of migrants with the release of various influencing factors that reflect the individual preferences of agent-migrants regarding to the agents-countries (EU members). At the same time, there are multiple control parameters that affect the distribution of migration flows between the EU countries, in particular, migration quotas, unemployment benefits, minimum wages, etc. The most important bicriterial optimization task of EU countries for choosing rational migration and economic policies based on maximizing integral GDP and minimizing the total number of migrants has been formulated. The issue is aimed to control parameters that affect the structure of migration flows and labor resources, as well as their maintenance costs. For the first time, an expanded gravitational model has been proposed and studied, describing dynamic migration flows with the release of multiple factors that differentiate the attractiveness of EU countries for various groups of migrants, for example, internal migrants, economic migrants, refugees, etc.