Regensburg 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe

SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 7: YSA Award Ceremony: Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics

SOE 7.1: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 11. März 2013, 16:00–16:45, H37

Mind the gap: What can economics, social insects and statistical physics learn from each other? — •Alan Kirman — GREQAM, EHESS, 2 Rue de la Charite, 13002 Marseille,France

Macroeconomists have been preoccupied by the analysis of equilibrium states and their properties. They assume that the economy will automatically find an equilibrium, from which it is perturbed only by exogenous shocks. Out of equilibrium behaviour is disregarded. The current crisis has shown again however, that what is needed, are models of the economy as a complex evolving system which may undergo sudden and radical endogenous changes. Interaction among the individuals, groups and institutions in the economy produces aggregate phenomena which are intrinsically different from the behavior of the individuals themselves. Collective results may be more or less *rational* than individual behavior. The gap between individual and collective rationality is real and important. "Swarm intelligence" reveals the potential increase in the cognitive capacity of a collectivity. Herd behaviour on markets shows how imitation can generate bubbles and crashes.Simple models based on approaches from other disciplines, statistical physics in particular, will allow us to achieve the important task of analysing the erratic evolution of the economy and the emergence of crises.