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chitwanabm
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.. image:: https://travis-ci.org/azvoleff/chitwanabm.png
    :alt: Build Status
    :target: https://travis-ci.org/azvoleff/chitwanabm

chitwanabm: an agent-based model of the western Chitwan Valley, Nepal.
 
Model Description
_______________________________________________________________________________

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://www.azvoleff.com/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
_______________________________________________________________________________

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
| Postdoctoral Associate
| Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network
| Conservation International
| 2011 Crystal Dr. Suite 500
| Arlington, Virginia 22202
| USA

Email: azvoleff@conservation.org

References
_______________________________________________________________________________

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.