The Global Financial Crisis revealed that systemic fragility arises not only from identifiable risks
but also from systemic uncertainty – the endogenous and often unpredictable dynamics that
build up within financial systems and amplify across time and space. More than a decade later,
this dual challenge remains pressing as the rising inequality and geopolitical insecurity have
underscored the vulnerability of interconnected economies and societies.

This book illustrates how agent-based modelling (ABM) can enrich the study of crises, systemic
risk and uncertainty, and the distributional effects of policies that are designed to contain them.
Rather than treating crises as external shocks, the book highlights how fragility can emerge
endogenously within economies that are understood as complex, evolving systems. Through
clear explanations and targeted applications, it not only demonstrates how ABM can capture
the effects of macroprudential regulation on the real economy and inequality and shed light on
moments of financial instability but also provides a practical guide to building such data-driven
models in the first place. At the same time, it situates these insights within a broader discussion
of contagion, procyclicality and global financial regulation, thus connecting the modelling
results with ongoing debates on how best to safeguard financial stability. Further, it offers a valuable
synthesis of lessons learned from advanced economies, illustrating how institutional design
and macroprudential policy can strengthen financial resilience while also generating significant
redistributive effects across sectors and households.

The book is primarily aimed at an academic audience of scholars and advanced students in
economics, finance and computational social science. It will also appeal to professionals in central
banks, regulators and policymakers engaged in designing and evaluating macroprudential
frameworks.

Jagoda Kaszowska-Mojsa is a researcher and lecturer and holds positions at the Institute of
Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences, the University of Oxford, the National Bank of Poland
and Cracow University of Economics, Poland.