A modeling approach using stocks, flows and feedback to investigate coupled systems over time. Computer simulations can explore delayed responses and the consequences of different model assumptions.
A system dynamicist studies feedback and time evolution using system dynamics models. Stocks describe accumulated quantities and flows describe their rates of change, while feedback links the rates to the current system state.
For a simple stock with inflow and proportional outflow , the model is . Its equilibrium and adjustment timescale follow from the equation. A useful model also states the evidence and assumptions behind the chosen feedback relationships.
Physicist and coauthor of The Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows and others.
Biophysicist and coauthor of The Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows and others.
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System dynamics is a methodological framework for understanding and analyzing complex systems over time. It was developed in the 1950s by Jay W. Forrester at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The approach combines elements of feedback loops, stocks and flows, and time delays to model the behavior of systems in various contexts, such as economics, ecology, social systems, and organizational management.