IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/61348.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Formal Approaches to Socio Economic Policy Analysis - Past and Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Gräbner, Claudius

Abstract

This paper is motivated by the observation that (1) socio economic analysis uses significantly less formalisms than mainstream economics, and (2) that there exist numerous situations in which socio economics could benefit from a more formal analysis. This is particularly the case if institutions play an important role in the system to be investigated. Starting with a broad conception of a formalism, this paper introduces and discusses five different formal approaches regarding their adequateness for socio economic analysis: The Social Fabric Matrix Approach, the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, System Dynamics, (Evolutionary) Game Theory, and Agent Based Computational Modeling. As a formal analysis always comes up with implicit ontological and epistemological tendencies, that have to be reflected if the formalism should contribute to a better understanding of the system under investigation, this paper pays particular attention to these tendencies of the considered formalisms. In the end, antagonisms and possible convergences among the formalisms are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gräbner, Claudius, 2015. "Formal Approaches to Socio Economic Policy Analysis - Past and Perspectives," MPRA Paper 61348, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:61348
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/61348/1/MPRA_paper_61348.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul D. Bush, 1987. "The Theory of Institutional Change," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 1075-1116, September.
    2. John Geanakoplos & Robert Axtell & J. Doyne Farmer & Peter Howitt & Benjamin Conlee & Jonathan Goldstein & Matthew Hendrey & Nathan M. Palmer & Chun-Yi Yang, 2012. "Getting at Systemic Risk via an Agent-Based Model of the Housing Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 53-58, May.
    3. Gräbner, Claudius, 2016. "Agent-based computational models– a formal heuristic for institutionalist pattern modelling?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 241-261, March.
    4. G. Hodgson, 2007. "What Are Institutions?," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 8.
    5. Elsner, Wolfram & Heinrich, Torsten & Schwardt, Henning, 2014. "The Microeconomics of Complex Economies," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780124115859.
    6. Mauricio G. Villena & Marcelo J. Villena, 2004. "Evolutionary Game Theory and Thorstein Veblen’s Evolutionary Economics: Is EGT Veblenian?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 585-610, September.
    7. Geoffrey M. Hodgson & Warren J. Samuels & Marc R. Tool (ed.), 1994. "The Elgar Companion to Institutional and Evolutionary Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, volume 0, number 228, December.
    8. Cyril Hédoin, 2010. "Did Veblen Generalize Darwinism (And Why Does It Matter)?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 963-990.
    9. Wolfram Elsner & Frederic S. Lee, 2010. "Editors' Introduction," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1333-1344, November.
    10. F. Gregory Hayden, 1982. "Social Fabric Matrix: From Perspective to Analytical Tool," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 637-662, September.
    11. Joshua M. Epstein & Robert L. Axtell, 1996. "Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom Up," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262550253, December.
    12. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2003. "The hidden persuaders: institutions and individuals in economic theory," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(2), pages 159-175, March.
    13. Charles K. Wilber & Robert S. Harrison, 1978. "The Methodological Basis of Institutional Economics: Pattern Model, Storytelling, and Holism," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 61-89, March.
    14. Chen, Shu-Heng, 2012. "Varieties of agents in agent-based computational economics: A historical and an interdisciplinary perspective," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-25.
    15. Ostrom, Elinor & Walker, James & Gardner, Roy, 1992. "Covenants with and without a Sword: Self-Governance Is Possible," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(2), pages 404-417, June.
    16. Geoffrey M. Hodgson & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2008. "The Complex Evolution of a Simple Traffic Convention: the Functions and Implications of Habit," International Economic Association Series, in: János Kornai & László Mátyás & Gérard Roland (ed.), Institutional Change and Economic Behaviour, chapter 9, pages 178-199, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Brais Alvarez-Pereira & Catherine S. E. Bale & Bernardo Alves Furtado & James E. Gentile & Claudius Gräbner & Heath Henderson & Francesca Lipari, 2015. "Social Institutions and Economic Inequality: Modeling the Onset of the Kuznets Curve," Discussion Papers 0204, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    18. Vittorio Pelligra, 2011. "Intentions, Trust and Frames: A Note on Sociality and the Theory of Games," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(2), pages 163-188.
    19. Ménard, Claude & Shirley, Mary M., 2014. "The future of new institutional economics: from early intuitions to a new paradigm?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 541-565, December.
    20. Scott T. Fullwiler & Wolfram Elsner & Tara Natarajan, 2009. "The Social Fabric Matrix Approach to Policy Analysis: An Introduction," Springer Books, in: Tara Natarajan & Wolfram Elsner & Scott Fullwiler (ed.), Institutional Analysis and Praxis, pages 1-22, Springer.
    21. Tara Natarajan & Wolfram Elsner & Scott Fullwiler (ed.), 2009. "Institutional Analysis and Praxis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-0-387-88741-8, July.
    22. Albin, Peter & Foley, Duncan K., 1992. "Decentralized, dispersed exchange without an auctioneer : A simulation study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 27-51, June.
    23. Jerry L. Hoffman & F. Gregory Hayden, 2007. "Using the Social Fabric Matrix to Analyze Institutional Rules Relative to Adequacy in Education Funding," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 359-367, June.
    24. Michael Radzicki & Linwood Tauheed, 2009. "In Defense of System Dynamics: A Response to Professor Hayden," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 1043-1061.
    25. Elsner, Wolfram & Heinrich, Torsten, 2009. "A simple theory of 'meso'. On the co-evolution of institutions and platform size--With an application to varieties of capitalism and 'medium-sized' countries," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 843-858, October.
    26. Michael J. Radzicki, 1988. "Institutional Dynamics: An Extension of the Institutionalist Approach to Socioeconomic Analysis," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 633-665, September.
    27. Wolfram Elsner, 2012. "The Theory of Institutional Change Revisited: The Institutional Dichotomy, Its Dynamic, and Its Policy Implications in a More Formal Analysis," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 1-44.
    28. Michael J. Radzicki, 2009. "Convergence of the Social Fabric Matrix and Complex Modeling," Springer Books, in: Tara Natarajan & Wolfram Elsner & Scott Fullwiler (ed.), Institutional Analysis and Praxis, pages 69-85, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gräbner, Claudius, 2016. "From realism to instrumentalism - and back? Methodological implications of changes in the epistemology of economics," MPRA Paper 71933, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Gräbner, Claudius, 2016. "Agent-based computational models– a formal heuristic for institutionalist pattern modelling?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 241-261, March.
    2. Elsner, Wolfram, 2015. "Policy Implications of Economic Complexity and Complexity Economics," MPRA Paper 63252, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Eduardo Fernández-Huerga & Ana Pardo & Ana Salvador, 2023. "Compatibility and complementarity between institutional and post-Keynesian economics: a literature review with a particular focus on methodology," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(2), pages 413-443, July.
    4. Torsten Heinrich & Henning Schwardt, 2013. "Institutional Inertia and Institutional Change in an Expanding Normal-Form Game," Games, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-28, August.
    5. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2015. "From equilibrium to autopoiesis: A Luhmannian reading of Veblenian evolutionary economics," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 143-155.
    6. Henning Schwardt, 2022. "Technology and social rules and norms in neo-Schumpeterian economics and in original institutional economics," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 75(303), pages 385-401.
    7. Heinrich, Torsten, 2016. "The Narrow and the Broad Approach to Evolutionary Modeling in Economics," MPRA Paper 75797, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Elsner, Wolfram & Schwardt, Henning, 2012. "Trust and Arena Size. Expectations, Trust, and Institutions Co-Evolving, and Their Critical Population and Group Sizes," MPRA Paper 40393, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Henning Schwardt, 2024. "Global supply chains as global commons: some policy considerations from the perspective of microfoundations in an evolutionary framework," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 305-319, September.
    10. Paschalis Arvanitidis, 2006. "A Framework of Socioeconomic Organisation: Redefining Original Institutional Economics Along Critical Realist Philosophical Lines," ERSA conference papers ersa06p575, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Flaminio Squazzoni, 2010. "The impact of agent-based models in the social sciences after 15 years of incursions," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 18(2), pages 197-234.
    12. Heinrich, Torsten, 2015. "Evolution-Based Approaches in Economics and Evolutionary Loss of Information," MPRA Paper 68384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Elsner, Wolfram & Schwardt, Henning, 2015. "The (dis-)embedded firm: Complex structure and dynamics in inter-firm relations. Adding institutionalization as a Veblenian dimension to the Coase-Williamson approach – An emerging triangular organiza," MPRA Paper 67193, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Claudius Gräbner, 2018. "Formal Approaches to Socio-economic Analysis—Past and Perspectives," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 32-63, January.
    15. 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.
    16. Brousseau, Eric & Garrouste, Pierre & Raynaud, Emmanuel, 2011. "Institutional changes: Alternative theories and consequences for institutional design," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(1-2), pages 3-19, June.
    17. Tara Natarajan, 2018. "Formal Methods for Integrated Socioeconomic Analysis: An Introduction to the Special Issue," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-7, January.
    18. Claudius Gräbner & Jakob Kapeller, 2015. "New Perspectives on Institutionalist Pattern Modeling: Systemism, Complexity, and Agent-Based Modeling," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 433-440, April.
    19. Rustem Nureev & Vyacheslav Volchik & Wadim Strielkowski, 2020. "Neoliberal Reforms in Higher Education and the Import of Institutions," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    20. Claudius Graebner & Amineh Ghorbani, 2019. "Defining institutions - A review and a synthesis," ICAE Working Papers 89, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Economics; Institutional Economics; Methodology; Epistemology; Ontology; System Dynamics; Social Fabric Matrix; (Evolutionary) Game Theory; Agent-Based Computational Economics; Econometrics.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General

    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:pra:mprapa:61348. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.