# Eco3S: Complex Socio-Economic System Simulation via Agent-Based Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.26588 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.26588/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Social simulation and multi-agent debate, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 25 of its 46 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 29 Jul 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Social simulation and multi-agent debate](https://mlsanity.com/agents/social-simulation-and-multi-agent-debate/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

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- [AgentSociety: Large-Scale Simulation of LLM-Driven Generative Agents Advances Understanding of Human Behaviors and Society](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08691/) (2025)
- [War and Peace (WarAgent): Large Language Model-based Multi-Agent Simulation of World Wars](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.17227/) (2023)
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- [SocioVerse: A World Model for Social Simulation Powered by LLM Agents and A Pool of 10 Million Real-World Users](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.10157/) (2025)
- [From Skepticism to Acceptance: Simulating the Attitude Dynamics Toward Fake News](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.09498/) (2024)
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- [TwinMarket: A Scalable Behavioral and Social Simulation for Financial Markets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01506/) (2025)
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- [Emergence of Social Norms in Generative Agent Societies: Principles and Architecture](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08251/) (2024)
- [ElectionSim: Massive Population Election Simulation Powered by Large Language Model Driven Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.20746/) (2024)
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- [Simulating Financial Market via Large Language Model based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.19966/) (2024)
- [TeachTune: Reviewing Pedagogical Agents Against Diverse Student Profiles with Simulated Students](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.04078/) (2024)
- [MALLM: Multi-Agent Large Language Models Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.11656/) (2025)
- [Large Language Model-driven Multi-Agent Simulation for News Diffusion Under Different Network Structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13909/) (2024)
- [A Simulation System Towards Solving Societal-Scale Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13915/) (2024)
- [MINDECHO: Role-Playing Language Agents for Key Opinion Leaders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.05305/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The rapid development of large language models (LLMs) has renewed interest in agent-based modeling (ABM). However, current LLM-based ABM research faces several key challenges: modeling evolving agent-environment interactions, enabling flexible counterfactual reasoning, and automating simulation workflows for scientific research. In this paper, we propose Eco3S, a socio-economic system simulation framework for economic research and policy analysis that addresses these challenges through three key mechanisms: (1) Co-evolving Environment Design, a bidirectional feedback loop where agents and the environment co-evolve, producing realistic emergent behaviors; (2) Structural Causal Simulation, a structural causal model (SCM)-inspired counterfactual mechanism that allows flexible interventions for diverse causal inference tasks; (3) Simulation-Analysis-Refinement Paradigm, a self-corrective mechanism that iteratively refines experimental designs based on prior simulation results. Experiments on diverse economic scenarios confirm textitEco3S's effectiveness in replicating multiple established economic studies (canal decay, origins of governance, and information propagation) and phenomena across domains. Additional results further demonstrate its scalability and generalizability, highlighting the framework's potential for rigorous economic research and policy-making.