Institutionalizing a Pluralistic Alliance between Economics and Engineering

Abstract

Economics and engineering have often intertwined, through the sharing of mathematical modeling tools, analogies and the migration of concepts. These processes have contributed to bridging the epistemological gap between the two disciplines and above all they have fueled a contamination that has allowed the advancement of knowledge. However, this exchange has long entered a phase of diminishing returns and is now not sufficient to respond to the growing complexity that is required of science and its methodologies to interpret the real world, increasingly integrated in all its aspects and influenced by clusters of pervasive innovation and technological progress. This urges the establishment of a new "pluralistic alliance" between the different semi-autonomous branches of the two disciplines, to be realized on a scientific platform, understood as a socio-epistemic space that allows for the meeting between scholars aimed at achieving common or similar scientific goals. The article discusses how to institutionalize this platform and highlights the largely incipient state and difficulties that stand in the way of its legitimacy.

The Development and Progress of Engineering Economics: A Retrospect and Prospect Based on Visual Analysis

“…Mariotti (2022a) continues the debate with a further response and argues that economics and engineering are gradually coming to "a fruitful knowledge collaboration". Moreover, given that the intertwining of the two fields has entered a phase of diminishing returns, Mariotti (2022b) urged "the establishment of a new 'pluralistic alliance' between the different semi-autonomous branches of the two disciplines" to respond more effectively to increasingly complex realities. This debate may not reach a fully recognized outcome, but the confrontations similar to it are key for building a more robust intellectual framework for EE and clarifying the developmental tasks specific to this interdisciplinary field.…”