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Can Neoclassical Economics Handle Complexity? The Fallacy of the Oil Spot Dynamic

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  • Magda Fontana

    (Department of Economics "S. Cognetti de Martiis" - UNITO - Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin)

Abstract

This paper is essentially a rebuttal of the view that neoclassical economics can handle complexity. I have coined the locution 'oil spot dynamic' to denote the neoclassical ability to subsume each and every new perspective. The main part of the paper is devoted to showing why the oil spot dynamic cannot work with the complexity approach, which is seen as a coherent stand-alone research program that stems from the SFI Economics Program and manifests itself with different nuances.

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  • Magda Fontana, 2010. "Can Neoclassical Economics Handle Complexity? The Fallacy of the Oil Spot Dynamic," Post-Print hal-00911826, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00911826
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2010.08.010
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    2. Cedrini, Mario & Fontana, Magda, 2015. "Mainstreaming. Reflections on the Origins and Fate of Mainstream Pluralism," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201510, University of Turin.
    3. Bronk, Richard & Jacoby, Wade, 2016. "Uncertainty and the dangers of monocultures in regulation, analysis, and practice," MPIfG Discussion Paper 16/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    4. Mario A. Cedrini & Roberto Marchionatti, 2017. "On the Theoretical and Practical Relevance of the Concept of Gift to the Development of a Non-imperialist Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 633-649, December.
    5. Roberto Antonietti & Chiara Burlina, 2019. "From variety to economic complexity: empirical evidence from Italian regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1930, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2019.
    6. Mario Cedrini & Magda Fontana, 2018. "Just another niche in the wall? How specialization is changing the face of mainstream economics [Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and the sciences]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(2), pages 427-451.
    7. Wagner, Richard E., 2012. "A macro economy as an ecology of plans," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 433-444.
    8. Domenico Delli Gatti, 2017. "The Crisis of Economic Theory and the Complexity View: A Note," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(3), pages 419-422, November.
    9. Antonietti, Roberto & Franco, Chiara, 2021. "From FDI to economic complexity: a panel Granger causality analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 225-239.
    10. Ambrosino, Angela & Fontana, Magda & Gigante, Anna Azzurra, 2015. "Shifting Boundaries in Economics: the Institutional Cognitive Strand," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201544, University of Turin.
    11. D'Orazio, Paola, 2019. "Income inequality, consumer debt, and prudential regulation: An agent-based approach to study the emergence of crises and financial instability," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 308-331.
    12. Wolfram Elsner, 2019. "Policy and state in complexity economics," Chapters, in: Nikolaos Karagiannis & John E. King (ed.), A Modern Guide to State Intervention, chapter 1, pages 13-48, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Magda Fontana, 2014. "Pluralism(s) in economics: lessons from complexity and innovation. A review paper," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 189-204, January.
    14. Antonelli, Cristiano, 2013. "The Economic Complexity of Innovation as a Creative Response," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201326, University of Turin.
    15. Elsner, Wolfram, 2015. "Policy Implications of Economic Complexity and Complexity Economics," MPRA Paper 63252, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Vallino.Elena, 2013. "Why droughts started to turn into famines in the Late Victorian periods? A complex system approach," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201317, University of Turin.
    17. Bertani, Filippo & Ponta, Linda & Raberto, Marco & Teglio, Andrea & Cincotti, Silvano, 2021. "The complexity of the intangible digital economy: an agent-based model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 527-540.
    18. Orlando Gomes, 2012. "Endogenous Heterogeneity, the Propagation of Information and Macroeconomic Complexity," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 38-58, March.
    19. Bertani, Filippo & Ponta, Linda & Raberto, Marco & Teglio, Andrea & Cincotti, Silvano, 2019. "An economy under the digital transformation," MPRA Paper 94205, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Roberto Antonietti & Chiara Burlina, 2023. "Exploring the entropy-complexity nexus. Evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 257-283, April.
    21. Gräbner, Claudius, 2014. "Agent-Based Computational Models - A Formal Heuristic for Institutionalist Pattern Modelling?," MPRA Paper 56415, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Cameli, Simone Amato, 2023. "A complexity economics framework for 21st-century industrial policy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 168-178.
    23. Angela Ambrosino & Magda Fontana & Anna Azzurra Gigante, 2018. "Shifting Boundaries In Economics: The Institutional Cognitive Strand And The Future Of Institutional Economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 767-791, July.
    24. Carlo Bottai & Martina Iori, 2022. "The Knowledge Complexity of the European Metropolitan Areas: Selecting and Clustering Their Hidden Features," LEM Papers Series 2022/38, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    25. Alan Kirman, 2016. "Complexity and Economic Policy: A Paradigm Shift or a Change in Perspective? A Review Essay on David Colander and Roland Kupers's Complexity and the Art of Public Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(2), pages 534-572, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complexity Theory; History of Economic Ideas; Samuelsonian Paradigm; B41 (Economic Methodology); B59 (Current Heterodox Approaches-Other);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • B59 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Other

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