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Econophysics and Physical Economics

Author

Listed:
  • Richmond, Peter

    (Department of Physics, Trinity College Dublin)

  • Mimkes, Jurgen

    (Paderborn University)

  • Hutzler, Stefan

    (Department of Physics, Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

An understanding of the behaviour of financial assets and the evolution of economies has never been as important as today. This book looks at these complex systems from the perspective of the physicist. So called 'econophysics' and its application to finance has made great strides in recent years. Less emphasis has been placed on the broader subject of macroeconomics and many economics students are still taught traditional neo-classical economics. The reader is given a general primer in statistical physics, probability theory, and use of correlation functions. Much of the mathematics that is developed is frequently no longer included in undergraduate physics courses. The statistical physics of Boltzmann and Gibbs is one of the oldest disciplines within physics and it can be argued that it was first applied to ensembles of molecules as opposed to being applied to social agents only by way of historical accident. The authors argue by analogy that the theory can be applied directly to economic systems comprising assemblies of interacting agents. The necessary tools and mathematics are developed in a clear and concise manner. The body of work, now termed econophysics, is then developed. The authors show where traditional methods break down and show how the probability distributions and correlation functions can be properly understood using high frequency data. Recent work by the physics community on risk and market crashes are discussed together with new work on betting markets as well as studies of speculative peaks that occur in housing markets. The second half of the book continues the empirical approach showing how by analogy with thermodynamics, a self-consistent attack can be made on macroeconomics. This leads naturally to economic production functions being equated to entropy functions - a new concept for economists. Issues relating to non-equilibrium naturally arise during the development and application of this approach to economics. These are discussed in the context of superstatistics and adiabatic processes. As a result it does seem ultimately possible to reconcile the approach with non-equilibrium systems, and the ideas are applied to study income and wealth distributions, which with their power law distribution functions have puzzled many researchers ever since Pareto discovered them over 100 years ago. This book takes a pedagogical approach to these topics and is aimed at final year undergraduate and beginning gradaute or post-graduate students in physics, economics, and business. However, the experienced researcher and quant should also find much of interest.

Suggested Citation

  • Richmond, Peter & Mimkes, Jurgen & Hutzler, Stefan, 2013. "Econophysics and Physical Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199674701.
  • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780199674701
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sexton, M.B. & Hardiman, S.J. & Möbius, M.E. & Hutzler, S., 2014. "Sheared disk packings as a model system for complex dynamics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 394(C), pages 312-319.
    2. Ming Chen, James, 2018. "Baryonic Beta Dynamics: An Econophysical Model of Systematic Risk/Dinámica de la Beta Bariónica: Un modelo Econofísico de Riesgo Sistemático," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 36, pages 263-276, Enero.
    3. Rashkovskiy, S.A., 2021. "Economic thermodynamics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 582(C).
    4. Hutzler, S. & Sommer, C. & Richmond, P., 2016. "On the relationship between income, fertility rates and the state of democracy in society," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 452(C), pages 9-18.
    5. Venkatasubramanian, Venkat & Luo, Yu & Sethuraman, Jay, 2015. "How much inequality in income is fair? A microeconomic game theoretic perspective," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 435(C), pages 120-138.
    6. Restocchi, Valerio & McGroarty, Frank & Gerding, Enrico, 2019. "The stylized facts of prediction markets: Analysis of price changes," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 515(C), pages 159-170.
    7. Nikolaos Th. Chatzarakis, 2021. "Revisiting the role and consequences of Econophysics from a Marxian perspective," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 15(1), pages 45-68, June.
    8. Takayuki Mizuno & Takaaki Ohnishi & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2016. "Power laws in market capitalization during the dot-com and Shanghai bubble periods," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 445-454, December.
    9. Rashkovskiy, S.A., 2021. "Thermodynamics of markets," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 567(C).
    10. Mercure, Jean-François, 2018. "Fashion, fads and the popularity of choices: Micro-foundations for diffusion consumer theory," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 194-207.
    11. Smerlak, Matteo, 2016. "Thermodynamics of inequalities: From precariousness to economic stratification," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 441(C), pages 40-50.
    12. Takayuki Mizuno & Takaaki Ohnishi & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2016. "Power laws in market capitalization during the Dot-com and Shanghai bubble periods," UTokyo Price Project Working Paper Series 070, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics.
    13. Restocchi, Valerio & McGroarty, Frank & Gerding, Enrico, 2019. "Statistical properties of volume and calendar effects in prediction markets," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1150-1160.
    14. Florin Turcaș & Florin Cornel Dumiter & Marius Boiță, 2022. "Econophysics Techniques and Their Applications on the Stock Market," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, March.
    15. Victor Olkhov, 2017. "Econophysics Macroeconomic Model," Papers 1701.06625, arXiv.org.
    16. AlShelahi, Abdullah & Saigal, Romesh, 2018. "Insights into the macroscopic behavior of equity markets: Theory and application," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 505(C), pages 778-793.
    17. Tarasov, Vasily E., 2020. "Fractional econophysics: Market price dynamics with memory effects," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 557(C).
    18. Takayuki Mizuno & Takaaki Ohnishi & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2016. "Power laws in market capitalization during the Dot-com and Shanghai bubble periods," CARF F-Series CARF-F-392, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    19. Elena Green & Daniel M. Heffernan, 2019. "An Agent-Based Model to Explain the Emergence of Stylised Facts in Log Returns," Papers 1901.05053, arXiv.org.
    20. Mizuno, Takayuki & Ohnishi, Takaaki & Watanabe, Tsutomu, 2016. "Power law in market capitalization during Dot-com and Shanghai bubble periods," HIT-REFINED Working Paper Series 60, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    21. Jovanovic, Franck & Schinckus, Christophe, 2017. "Econophysics and Financial Economics: An Emerging Dialogue," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190205034.

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