Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
4.
Sawyer (2005) argues that the interest in complex dynamical or adaptive systems represents the third
wave of social systems theory. The i rst wave was structural functionalism, and general systems theory the
second.
5.
In their contribution, Harrison et al. (2006) explore the scope for using the ideas of complexity theory as
a common basis for bridging human and physical geography.
6.
It should be noted that Krugman's excursion into 'complexity theory' is limited in scope and makes no
links with the ideas and concepts of evolutionary economics.
7.
Indeed, 'complexity theory' is often portrayed as, and dei ned in terms of, the mathematics of non-linear
dynamic stochastic systems, particularly physico-chemical systems.
8.
Even in the physical and natural world, mathematical models typically fail to convey the precise nature of
the specii c
processes
at work.
9.
A complex system can simply be chaotic, and is not necessarily self-organising. A complex adaptive
system, however, is necessarily self-organising.
10.
Indeed, there have also been attempts to trace embryonic 'complexity thinking' ideas in the history of
economic thought, and to reinterpret the work of previous major economists - from Marx to Marshall -
from a 'complexity perspective' (see Colander, 2000b).
11.
Perona takes these terms directly from Lawson:
If I can use the term
theoretic
to denote the quality of being a feature of a model and the term
ontic
to
denote the quality of being features of the world the economist presumes to illuminate, a more succinct
way of describing the problem that arises through the prioritisation of the modeling orientation is a
conl ation of the theoretic and ontic, with the latter reduced to the former. (Lawson, 2003, p. 4; empha-
sis in original)
12.
This leads Potts to conclude that graph theory could be a useful methodology to deal with economic
complexity at the representational level.
13.
For example, Batten writes that 'The footprints of power laws can be found everywhere' (2001, p. 96).
14.
In Foster's (2005) typology, 'i rst-order' complexity refers to the imposition of energy onto chemical
elements such that patterns form in the dissipation of energy, while 'second-order' complexity refers to
reception of information that is translated into a knowledge structure that permits control over the acqui-
sition of energy. This is the level of complexity operating in the biological domain.
15.
Schnabl et al. (1999) argue that input-output matrices reveal that the Queensland economy has become
more interconnected and coordinated over time through market relations and has followed a coherent
self-organising developmental path. Yet this surely reveals only one aspect of coordination.
16.
This is indeed a general criticism that can be levelled at the idea of autopoiesis when applied to social
systems (see Mingers, 2002).
17.
The formation of institutions can also be the result of co-evolution or self-organisation, and is thus not
exogenous to the system under study. Institutions might be assumed as exogenous in the short run, but
themselves become endogenous in the longer term, as they change and transform as the economy itself
evolves (see Martin and Sunley, 2006).
18.
Potts expressly links 'lock-in' to low connectivity (ordered) systems:
In the ordered regime, the particular coni guration of connections locked into (descriptive of prefer-
ences, technology, institutions) may or may not be optimal in the sense that other combinations may
be better, but the system has no internal mechanism to change to these states. (2000, p. 90)
19. Later and perhaps inconsistently, however, Beinhocker swallows a reductionist version of Putnam and
argues that economies with more connections in the form of social capital have more trust and grow more
quickly.
20. Foster (1997) also appears to argue that a complexity view focuses on selection via changes in system
boundary conditions rather than by microscopic dynamics.
21. Beinhocker (2006) also argues that there are co-evolutionary dynamics that simultaneously shape social
technologies, physical technologies and business plans. Such plans are carried by businesses that act as
replicators. These plans are built from amalgamations of modules that themselves are combinations
of atomistic physical and social technologies. He dei nes modules as 'a component of a business plan
that has provided in the past, or could provide in the future, a basis for dif erential selection between
businesses in a competitive environment' (p. 283). Is this a rehearsal of, or an advance on, Nelson and
Winter's neo-Darwinian evolutionism?
22. In an interesting paper, Mehier and Brette (2005) seek to use Dopfer's
micro-meso-macro
ontology
to formulate some hypotheses concerning the life-cycle of clusters. They argue that Dopfer's ontology
equates to Veblen's institutional framework, whereby micro relates to individual habits of action and
