The Paradigm of Social Complexity
An Alternative Way of Understanding Societies and their Economies¿
1st Edition
Published on 4. August 2020
1032 pages
978-607-8036-53-0 (ISBN)
Description
With the recent developments in computing technologies and the thriving research scene in Complexity Science, economists and other social scientists have become aware of a more flexible and promising alternative for modelling socioeconomic systems, one that, in contrast with neoclassical economics, advocates for the realism of the assumptions, the importance of context and culture, the heterogeneity of agents (individuals or organizations), and the bounded rationality of individuals who behave and learn in multifaceted ways in uncertain environments. The book synthesizes an extensive body of work in the field of social complexity and constructs a unifying framework that allows developing concrete applications to important socioeconomic problems. This one-of-a-kind textbook provides a comprehensive panorama for advanced undergraduates and graduate students who want to become familiar with a wide range of issues related to social complexity. It is also a pioneering text that can support professors who wish to learn techniques and produce research in this novel field. Con los desarrollos recientes en las tecnologias de la computacion y el floreciente dinamismo de las ciencias de la complejidad, economistas y otros cientificos sociales tienen a su alcance una flexible y prometedora alternativa para la modelacion de los sistemas socioeconomicos. Esta metodologia, en contraste con la economia neoclasica, aboga por el realismo de los supuestos, la importancia del contexto y la cultura, la heterogeneidad de los agentes (individuos y organizaciones), y la racionalidad acotada de las personas que se comportan y aprenden de maneras muy diversas en entorno con incertidumbre. El libro sintetiza la extensa literatura que existe sobre la complejidad social, y construye un enfoque unificador que permite elaborar aplicaciones concretas con las que abordar importantes problemas socioeconomicos. Se trata de un texto singular dado que presenta un panorama comprensivo del campo de estudio, por lo que puede resultar de sumo interes para estudiante de licenciatura avanzados, y alumnos de posgrado que desean adentrarse en el tema. Asimismo, se trata de un texto pionero de gran utilidad para profesores y analistas interesados en aprender algunas de las tecnicas del paradigma de la complejidad social para, de esta forma, aplicarlas en sus tareas de investigacion.
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Persons
Gonzalo Castañeda is a Mexican economist who holds a PhD from Cornell University and two BAs from the Mexican Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM). He currently works at the prestigious Centre for the Research and Teaching of Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City and is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI, level III). He has been a visiting scholar in several universities and research centres in the United States and Europe: George Mason University (Virginia, USA), The Alan Turing Institute (London, UK), Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), International Institute for Applied System Analysis (Austria), University of Salamanca (Spain), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain). Dr Castañeda has been studying social complexity for more than 15 years. During this time, he has delivered various courses on the topic at graduate and undergraduate levels, leading to the creation of this book. His research has been conducted in different approaches of economic thinking including neoclassical, structural, institutional, and evolutionary.
Content
Preface
1 Why study other paradigms?
2 Vision and modelling of complexity
3 The dynamics of social phenomena
4 Complexity in economic thought
5 Complexity and emerging properties
6 The self-organisation of complexity
7 Cellular automata
8 Homo Socialis
9 The multifaceted behaviour of human beings
10 Structure and its analytical instrumentation
11 Socioeconomic evolution
12 Agent-based computational models
13 Three examples of agent-based models
14 Computational models of networks
15 Topology and network formation processes
16 The dynamics of social diffusion
17 Learning in contexts of uncertainty
18 Introduction to genetic algorithms
19 Validation and social mechanisms
20 Calibration, verification and replication
21 Empirical applications of social complexity
1 Why study other paradigms?
2 Vision and modelling of complexity
3 The dynamics of social phenomena
4 Complexity in economic thought
5 Complexity and emerging properties
6 The self-organisation of complexity
7 Cellular automata
8 Homo Socialis
9 The multifaceted behaviour of human beings
10 Structure and its analytical instrumentation
11 Socioeconomic evolution
12 Agent-based computational models
13 Three examples of agent-based models
14 Computational models of networks
15 Topology and network formation processes
16 The dynamics of social diffusion
17 Learning in contexts of uncertainty
18 Introduction to genetic algorithms
19 Validation and social mechanisms
20 Calibration, verification and replication
21 Empirical applications of social complexity
