IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/2506.11405.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Rethinking Competition as a Non-Beneficial Mechanism in Economic Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Marcelo S. Tedesco
  • Gonzalo Marquez

Abstract

Persistent economic competition is often justified as a mechanism of innovation, efficiency, and welfare maximization. Yet empirical evidence across disciplines reveals that competition systematically generates fragility, inequality, and ecological degradation, emergent outcomes not of isolated failures but of underlying systemic dynamics. This work reconceptualizes economic ecosystems as real complex adaptive systems, structurally isomorphic with biological and social ecosystems. Integrating complexity science, evolutionary biology, ecology, and economic and business theory, we classify economic interactions according to their systemic effects and propose a theoretical model of ecosystemic equilibrium based on the predominance of beneficial versus non-beneficial relationships. Recognizing economies as ecologically embedded and structurally interdependent systems provides a novel framework for analyzing systemic resilience, reframing competition as a non-beneficial mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcelo S. Tedesco & Gonzalo Marquez, 2025. "Rethinking Competition as a Non-Beneficial Mechanism in Economic Systems," Papers 2506.11405, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2506.11405
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.11405
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim P. Clark, 2025. "Degrowth or secular stagnation? The political economy of monopoly finance capital and the stagnation-accumulation treadmill," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 15(1), pages 19-34, March.
    2. Ana Joana Fernandes & Joao J. Ferreira, 2022. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and networks: a literature review and research agenda," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 189-247, January.
    3. Taylor Smith & Dominik Traxl & Niklas Boers, 2022. "Empirical evidence for recent global shifts in vegetation resilience," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(5), pages 477-484, May.
    4. Nicholas Stern & Joseph E Stiglitz, 2023. "Climate change and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 32(2), pages 277-303.
    5. John Foster, 2005. "From simplistic to complex systems in economics," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(6), pages 873-892, November.
    6. Kayla R. S. Hale & Fernanda S. Valdovinos & Neo D. Martinez, 2020. "Mutualism increases diversity, stability, and function of multiplex networks that integrate pollinators into food webs," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Greg Kaplan & Benjamin Moll & Giovanni L. Violante, 2018. "Monetary Policy According to HANK," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(3), pages 697-743, March.
    8. Helmut Haberl & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Stefan Pauliuk & Fridolin Krausmann & Daniel B. Müller & Marina Fischer-Kowalski, 2019. "Contributions of sociometabolic research to sustainability science," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(3), pages 173-184, March.
    9. Frank Smets & Rafael Wouters, 2007. "Shocks and Frictions in US Business Cycles: A Bayesian DSGE Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 586-606, June.
    10. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    11. Daron Acemoglu & Asuman Ozdaglar & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2015. "Systemic Risk and Stability in Financial Networks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(2), pages 564-608, February.
    12. David Autor & David Dorn & Lawrence F Katz & Christina Patterson & John Van Reenen, 2020. "The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms [“Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 645-709.
    13. Harvey, David, 2007. "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283279, Decembrie.
    14. Lisa J. Daniel & Margarietha J. de Villiers Scheepers & Morgan P. Miles & Saskia de Klerk, 2022. "Understanding entrepreneurial ecosystems using complex adaptive systems theory: getting the big picture for economic development, practice, and policy," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9-10), pages 911-934, October.
    15. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Claire Lelarge & John Van Reenen & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "Technology, Information, and the Decentralization of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1759-1799.
    16. Nicholas Stern & Joseph Stiglitz & Charlotte Taylor, 2022. "The economics of immense risk, urgent action and radical change: towards new approaches to the economics of climate change," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 181-216, July.
    17. Servaas Storm, 2021. "Cordon of Conformity: Why DSGE Models Are Not the Future of Macroeconomics," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 77-98, April.
    18. Elizabeth Hoffecker & Francisco Ramos & Gordon Adomdza & Dan Frey, 2023. "Strengthening Local Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(2_suppl), pages 89-116, November.
    19. Alexander F. Siegenfeld & Yaneer Bar-Yam, 2020. "An Introduction to Complex Systems Science and Its Applications," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-16, July.
    20. Ben Spigel, 2017. "The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 49-72, January.
    21. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1989. "Markets, Market Failures, and Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 197-203, May.
    22. Jan De Loecker & Jan Eeckhout & Gabriel Unger, 2020. "The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomic Implications [“Econometric Tools for Analyzing Market Outcomes”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 561-644.
    23. Erik Stam & Andrew Ven, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 809-832, February.
    24. Sophia Kuehnlenz & Valeria Andreoni & Imko Meyenburg, 2023. "Capitalism and crises: A comparative analysis of mainstream and heterodox perceptions and related ethical considerations," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(S1), pages 52-64, April.
    25. Martin J. Osborne & Ariel Rubinstein, 1994. "A Course in Game Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650401, December.
    26. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    27. Viktor Stojkoski & Philipp Koch & C'esar A. Hidalgo, 2022. "Multidimensional Economic Complexity and Inclusive Green Growth," Papers 2209.08382, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2023.
    28. Giovanni Dosi & Richard B Freeman & Marcelo C Pereira & Andrea Roventini & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2021. "The impact of deunionization on the growth and dispersion of productivity and pay [It’s where you work: increases in the dispersion of earnings across establishments and individuals in the United S," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(2), pages 377-408.
    29. Boyd Cohen, 2006. "Sustainable valley entrepreneurial ecosystems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, January.
    30. Daniel Kahneman, 2003. "Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1449-1475, December.
    31. Gauti B. Eggertsson & Neil R. Mehrotra & Jacob A. Robbins, 2019. "A Model of Secular Stagnation: Theory and Quantitative Evaluation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-48, January.
    32. Bruna Bruno & Marisa Faggini & Anna Parziale, 2016. "Complexity Modelling in Economics: the State of the Art," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 29-43, September.
    33. Janna Alvedalen & Ron Boschma, 2017. "A critical review of entrepreneurial ecosystems research: towards a future research agenda," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 887-903, June.
    34. Simon Wren-Lewis, 2018. "Ending the microfoundations hegemony," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(1-2), pages 55-69.
    35. Tom H. Oliver & Nick J. B. Isaac & Tom A. August & Ben A. Woodcock & David B. Roy & James M. Bullock, 2015. "Declining resilience of ecosystem functions under biodiversity loss," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, December.
    36. J. Doyne Farmer & Duncan Foley, 2009. "The economy needs agent-based modelling," Nature, Nature, vol. 460(7256), pages 685-686, August.
    37. Leon Podkaminer, 2021. "Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium: macroeconomics at a dead end," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 52(2), pages 97-122.
    38. John Foster, 2006. "Why Is Economics Not a Complex Systems Science?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 1069-1091, December.
    39. Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Fishman, Tomer & Lauk, Christian & Haas, Willi & Krausmann, Fridolin, 2019. "Integrating Material Stock Dynamics Into Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounting: Concepts, Modelling, and Global Application for 1900–2050," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 121-133.
    40. Ron Martin, 2011. "The local geographies of the financial crisis: from the housing bubble to economic recession and beyond," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 587-618, July.
    41. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, 1986. "The Entropy Law and the Economic Process in Retrospect," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 3-25, Jan-Mar.
    42. Ghazinoory, Sepehr & Phillips, Fred & Afshari-Mofrad, Masoud & Bigdelou, Nasrin, 2021. "Innovation lives in ecotones, not ecosystems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 572-580.
    43. Cars Hommes, 2021. "Behavioral and Experimental Macroeconomics and Policy Analysis: A Complex Systems Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 149-219, March.
    44. Frances C. Moore & Katherine Lacasse & Katharine J. Mach & Yoon Ah Shin & Louis J. Gross & Brian Beckage, 2022. "Determinants of emissions pathways in the coupled climate–social system," Nature, Nature, vol. 603(7899), pages 103-111, March.
    45. Spash, Clive L., 2020. "A tale of three paradigms: Realising the revolutionary potential of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    46. Michał Brzoza-Brzezina & Jacek Suda, 2021. "Are DSGE models irreparably flawed?," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 52(3), pages 227-252.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sanjay Chaudhary & Puneet Kaur & Hind Alofaysan & Jantje Halberstadt & Amandeep Dhir, 2023. "Connecting the dots? Entrepreneurial ecosystems and sustainable entrepreneurship as pathways to sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5935-5951, December.
    2. Christina Theodoraki & Alexis Catanzaro, 2022. "Widening the borders of entrepreneurial ecosystem through the international lens," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 383-406, April.
    3. Reis, Germano Glufke & Villar, Eduardo Guedes & Prado Gimenez, Fernando Antonio & Maiolino Molento, Carla Forte & Ferri, Priscila, 2022. "The interplay of entrepreneurial ecosystems and global value chains: Insights from the cultivated meat entrepreneurial ecosystem of Singapore," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Laurence Cloutier & Karim Messeghem, 2022. "Whirlwind model of entrepreneurial ecosystem path dependence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 611-625, August.
    5. Daniel Sunghwan Cho & Paul Ryan & Giulio Buciuni, 2022. "Evolutionary entrepreneurial ecosystems: a research pathway," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1865-1883, April.
    6. Bessagnet, Arnauld & Crespo, Joan & Vicente, Jérôme, 2021. "Unraveling the multi-scalar and evolutionary forces of entrepreneurial ecosystems: A historical event analysis applied to IoT Valley," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    7. Pedro Torres & Pedro Godinho, 2022. "Levels of necessity of entrepreneurial ecosystems elements," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 29-45, June.
    8. Francesco Perugini, 2023. "Space–time analysis of entrepreneurial ecosystems," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 240-291, February.
    9. Stephens, Simon & McLaughlin, Christopher & Ryan, Leah & Catena, Manuel & Bonner, Aisling, 2022. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems: Multiple domains, dimensions and relationships," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    10. Quoc Hoang Thai & Khuong Ngoc Mai & Tung Thanh Do, 2023. "An Evolution of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Studies: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    11. Stephen Mago & Stephan van der Merwe, 2023. "Exploring Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Developed Countries: A Systematic Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    12. Guerrero, Maribel & Siegel, Donald S., 2024. "Schumpeter meets Teece: Proposed metrics for assessing entrepreneurial innovation and dynamic capabilities in entrepreneurial ecosystems in an emerging economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    13. Theodoraki, Christina & Dana, Léo-Paul & Caputo, Andrea, 2022. "Building sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: A holistic approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 346-360.
    14. Andrea Borsato, 2022. "An agent-based model for Secular Stagnation in the USA: theory and empirical evidence," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1345-1389, September.
    15. Ellen Loots & Miguel Neiva & Luís Carvalho & Mariangela Lavanga, 2021. "The entrepreneurial ecosystem of cultural and creative industries in Porto: A sub‐ecosystem approach," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 641-662, June.
    16. Meek, Shelby Renee & Tietz, Matthias A., 2022. "Entrepreneurship and subjective vs objective institutional performance: A decade of US hospital data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    17. Fischer, Bruno & Meissner, Dirk & Vonortas, Nicholas & Guerrero, Maribel, 2022. "Spatial features of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 27-36.
    18. Martin Queissner & Lennard Stolz & Matthias Weiss, 2025. "A meta-analysis of entrepreneurial ecosystem elements and entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1817-1847, April.
    19. Poledna, Sebastian & Miess, Michael Gregor & Hommes, Cars & Rabitsch, Katrin, 2023. "Economic forecasting with an agent-based model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Christian Bayer & Benjamin Born & Ralph Luetticke, 2024. "Shocks, Frictions, and Inequality in US Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(5), pages 1211-1247, May.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2506.11405. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.