Econophysics: Difference between revisions

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'''Econophysics''' and the closely-related field of '''sociophysics''' are areas of interdisciplinary research using methods and techniques from [[physics]] to model economic and other social phenomena respectively.  Although examples can be found dating back some way into the literature, both fields came to prominence in the 1990s in response to a number of factors, including perceived crises in traditional [[economics|economic]] methodology and analysis, the interest from the [[finance]] industry in employing trained physicists as [[quantitative analysis|quantitative analysts]], and the complex patterns observed in the newly-available high-frequency financial data, which suggested links to various contemporary developments in [[statistical mechanics]].
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As well as bringing new mathematical and computational techniques to the table, econophysics represents a considerable conceptual shift in its approach to economic problems.  Whereas traditional economics has tended to conceive economic situations in terms of steady states, emphasising concepts such as [[economic equilibrium|equilibrium]], deductive [[economic rationality|rational]] behaviour and [[utility maximisation]], econophysics emphasises the [[dynamical system|dynamical]] aspects of economic behaviour, focusing on [[non-equilibrium thermodynamics|non-equilibrium]] systems, [[bounded rationality]] and [[multi-agent system|multi-agent modelling]] where the diverse participants have limited computational capacity.
{{main|Economics}}
'''Econophysics''' and the closely-related field of '''sociophysics''' are areas of interdisciplinary research using methods and techniques from [[physics]] to model economic and other social phenomena respectively.  Although examples can be found dating back some way into the literature, both fields came to prominence in the 1990s in response to a number of factors, including perceived crises in traditional [[economics|economic]] methodology and analysis, the interest from the [[finance]] industry in employing trained physicists as [[quantitative analysis|quantitative analysts]], and the complex patterns observed in the newly-available high-frequency financial data, which suggested links to various contemporary developments in [[statistical mechanics]] and the physics of [[complexity]].
 
As well as bringing new mathematical and computational techniques to the table, econophysics represents a considerable conceptual shift in its approach to economic problems.  Whereas traditional economics has tended to think in terms of steady states, emphasising concepts such as [[economic equilibrium|equilibrium]], deductive [[economic rationality|rational]] behaviour and [[utility maximisation]], econophysics emphasises the [[dynamical system|dynamical]] aspects of economic behaviour, focusing on [[non-equilibrium thermodynamics|non-equilibrium]] systems, [[bounded rationality]] and [[multi-agent system|multi-agent modelling]] where the diverse participants have limited computational capacity.
 
==Overview==
<!--Econophysics in the modern sense -->


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==Earlier physics-economics interaction==
<!--Osborne, Mandelbrot, random walk,  .... -->


==External links==
==External links==
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       | url = http://stacks.iop.org/RoPP/66/1611
       | url = http://stacks.iop.org/RoPP/66/1611
   }}
   }}
* {{cite journal
      | author = [[Mauro Gallegati|Gallegati, M.]], [[Steve Keen|Keen, S.]], [[Thomas Lux|Lux, T.]] and [[Paul Ormerod|Ormerod, P.]]
      | date = 2006
      | title = Worrying trends in econophysics
      | journal = [[Physica A]]
      | volume = 370
      | pages = 1&ndash;6
      | url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2006.04.029
      | doi = 10.1016/j.physa.2006.04.029
}}


* {{cite book
* {{cite book
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       | isbn = 0671767895
       | isbn = 0671767895
   }}
   }}
[[Category:Physics Workgroup]]
[[Category:Economics Workgroup]]

Latest revision as of 10:16, 26 September 2007

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For more information, see: Economics.

Econophysics and the closely-related field of sociophysics are areas of interdisciplinary research using methods and techniques from physics to model economic and other social phenomena respectively. Although examples can be found dating back some way into the literature, both fields came to prominence in the 1990s in response to a number of factors, including perceived crises in traditional economic methodology and analysis, the interest from the finance industry in employing trained physicists as quantitative analysts, and the complex patterns observed in the newly-available high-frequency financial data, which suggested links to various contemporary developments in statistical mechanics and the physics of complexity.

As well as bringing new mathematical and computational techniques to the table, econophysics represents a considerable conceptual shift in its approach to economic problems. Whereas traditional economics has tended to think in terms of steady states, emphasising concepts such as equilibrium, deductive rational behaviour and utility maximisation, econophysics emphasises the dynamical aspects of economic behaviour, focusing on non-equilibrium systems, bounded rationality and multi-agent modelling where the diverse participants have limited computational capacity.

Overview

[1] [2]

Earlier physics-economics interaction

External links

References

Notes

  1. Stanley, H. E. et al. (1996). "Anomalous fluctuations in the dynamics of complex systems: from DNA and physiology to econophysics". Physica A 224: 302–321. DOI:10.1016/0378-4371(95)00409-2. Research Blogging.
  2. Galam, S., Gefen, Y. and Shapir, Y. (1982). "Sociophysics: a new approach of sociological collective behaviour. I. Mean-behaviour description of a strike". Journal of Mathematical Sociology 9: 1–13.

Bibliography