Rethinking Economic Growth Theory From a Biophysical Perspective

Fix, Blair

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12826-9

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The energy-hierarchy-inequality hypothesis begins with a link between energy and institution size. In modern societies, institution size is strongly correlated with energy use per capita [47,48]. The growth of average firm size is not caused by a horizontal shift in the distribution.…”

Section: Energy and Institution Sizementioning

confidence: 98%

Energy, Hierarchy and the Origin of Inequality

Fix¹

2018

Preprint

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Where should we look to understand the origin of inequality? I propose an unusual window of evidence --- modern societies. I hypothesize that evidence for the origin of inequality is encoded in the institutional structure of industrial societies. To test this idea, I use a model to project modern trends into the past. This model takes the modern relation between energy, hierarchy, and inequality and creates a hindcast of the origin of inequality. The results are broadly consistent with the available evidence. The model predicts an explosion of inequality with the transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture, followed by a plateau. This finding potentially opens a new window of evidence into the origin of inequality.

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Section: Energy and Institution Sizementioning

confidence: 98%

Energy, Hierarchy and the Origin of Inequality

Fix¹

2018

Preprint

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“…It is also important to note that changes in energy use and institution size occur alongside other social changes, the two most obvious being urbanization and changes in sector composition [ 35 ]. It seems likely that these phenomena are all interrelated—part of a complex process of social change accompanying changes in energy consumption.…”

Section: The ‘Why’ Question: Energy Technology and Hierarchymentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy and institution size

Fix

2017

PLoS ONE

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Why do institutions grow? Despite nearly a century of scientific effort, there remains little consensus on this topic. This paper offers a new approach that focuses on energy consumption. A systematic relation exists between institution size and energy consumption per capita: as energy consumption increases, institutions become larger. I hypothesize that this relation results from the interplay between technological scale and human biological limitations. I also show how a simple stochastic model can be used to link energy consumption with firm dynamics.

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“…49 So, the recent 21st Century approaches in biophysical economics focused on analyses and establishing mathematical models. [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] More recently, with regard to the information oriented lifestyles of today, Szilard argued about the interdependence of information, time, and energy, and their 16-) Georgescu-Roegen: Ø suggested the 4th Law of Thermodynamics or Law of Matter . Entropy, dealing with degradation of the organizational state of matter \Ø"sign indicates separate distinct highlights on the views of the selected scholars.…”

Section: The Biophysical Economics' Historical Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…50,121,122 These works are in conjunction with our state of understanding in societies and economics, wherein the changes in societies are represented in the economies, environment, science, and the production and consumption cycles. They reveal that all should meet to manage the consistent welfare, both for the nations and the World.…”

Section: Socio-econo-physical Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

From the Physiocrats to Fairness in Nations

Adıgüzel

Flomenbom²,

Çoban

2017

Rep. Adv. Phys. Sci.

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In this review, work from three centuries of biophysical economics is presented, starting from the physiocrats' early work in biophysical economics in 1755, to the most recent modeling of modern societies with approaches from biophysics and physics, to explain the wealth distribution, opinions and power structures in societies and nations. At the same time, we are also dealing with generalizations, in particular, how to de¯ne and create fairness in nations. The general conclusions emphasize the strength of socio-econo-physics in explaining nations, also in comparison to the other approaches, due to the unbiased starting points and diversity in methods. The results emphasize that fairness is increased with citizens' activities that create smoother income distributions and improving the°ow of opportunities in the nation. Fairness also¯ghts unjust socio-economic biases and suggests advancing citizens-managed organizations.

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Rethinking Economic Growth Theory From a Biophysical Perspective

Cited by 18 publications

References 26 publications

Energy, Hierarchy and the Origin of Inequality

Energy, Hierarchy and the Origin of Inequality

Energy and institution size

From the Physiocrats to Fairness in Nations

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