1,607 research outputs found
Schumpeter and Georgescu-Roegen on the foundations of an evolutionary analysis: The problem of qualitative change, its methodical implications and analytical treatment
No full textDespite the frequent references to Schumpeter's work, his own encompassing methodological approach as worked out by Shionoya (1997) has hardly been considered. In this paper, it is revisited together with Georgescu-Roegen's contributions to economic methodology in view of (i) their contribution to the foundations of an evolutionary analysis in economics and (ii) their mutual complementarity and differences. Both are centred around the issue of qualitative change and its substantial analysis. Schumpeter's analytical distinction between the levels of subject matter and method and his further distinction between stationary and evolutionary economy on the level of subject matter are shown to be decisive for the structure of his analytical system and the determination of an evolutionary analysis on its basis. It is further shown that Georgescu-Roegen's contributions – his evaluation of the entropy law and his consideration of the implications of qualitative change for economic analysis – follow exactly the general structure of Schumpeter's analytical system which they refine or correct. It is argued that they provided together an encompassing general framework for the analysis of economic evolution necessarily different from, but complementary to modern static and dynamic analysis. However, they did neither state nor solve the general theoretical problem of an evolutionary analysis in their sense. --evolutionary analysis,Georgescu-Roegen,qualitative change,Schumpeter
Reconsideration of Dimensions and Curve Fitting Practice in Economics Elaborating on Georgescu-Roegen’s Economic Methodology
No full textThis paper is to examine the proper use of dimensions and curve fitting practices elaborating on Georgescu-Roegen’s economic methodology in relation to the three main concerns of his epistemological orientation. Section 2 introduces two critical issues in relation to dimensions and curve fitting practices in economics in view of Georgescu-Roegen’s economic methodology. Section 3 deals with the logarithmic function (ln z) and shows that z must be a dimensionless pure number, otherwise it is nonsensical. Several unfortunate examples of this analytical error are presented including macroeconomic data analysis conducted by a representative figure in this field. Section 4 deals with the standard Cobb-Douglas function. It is shown that the operational meaning cannot be obtained for capital or labor within the Cobb-Douglas function. Section 4 also deals with economists’ ?curve fitting fetishism?. Section 5 concludes this paper with several epistemological issues in relation to dimensions and curve fitting practices in economics.dimensions, logarithmic function, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, macroeconomics, Cobb-Douglas function, econometrics, curve fitting, transcendental production function
Seasonal hydroclimatic impacts of Sun Corridor expansion
No full textabstract: Conversion of natural to urban land forms imparts influence on local and regional hydroclimate via modification of the surface energy and water balance, and consideration of such effects due to rapidly expanding megapolitan areas is necessary in light of the growing global share of urban inhabitants. Based on a suite of ensemble-based, multi-year simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, we quantify seasonally varying hydroclimatic impacts of the most rapidly expanding megapolitan area in the US: Arizona's Sun Corridor, centered upon the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Using a scenario-based urban expansion approach that accounts for the full range of Sun Corridor growth uncertainty through 2050, we show that built environment induced warming for the maximum development scenario is greatest during the summer season (regionally averaged warming over AZ exceeds 1 °C). Warming remains significant during the spring and fall seasons (regionally averaged warming over AZ approaches 0.9 °C during both seasons), and is least during the winter season (regionally averaged warming over AZ of 0.5 °C). Impacts from a minimum expansion scenario are reduced, with regionally averaged warming ranging between 0.1 and 0.3 °C for all seasons except winter, when no warming impacts are diagnosed. Integration of highly reflective cool roofs within the built environment, increasingly recognized as a cost-effective option intended to offset the warming influence of urban complexes, reduces urban-induced warming considerably. However, impacts on the hydrologic cycle are aggravated via enhanced evapotranspiration reduction, leading to a 4% total accumulated precipitation decrease relative to the non-adaptive maximum expansion scenario. Our results highlight potentially unintended consequences of this adaptation approach within rapidly expanding megapolitan areas, and emphasize the need for undeniably sustainable development paths that account for hydrologic impacts in addition to continued focus on mean temperature effects.Corresponding Author:
Matei Georgescu
Arizona State University
[email protected]
Georgescu-Roegen (N.) - The Entropy Law and the Economic Process.
No full textGreen M. J. Georgescu-Roegen (N.) - The Entropy Law and the Economic Process.. In: Revue économique, volume 25, n°5, 1974. pp. 842-844
An alternative explanation of the semiarid urban area “oasis effect”
No full textabstract: This research evaluates the climatic summertime representation of the diurnal cycle of near-surface temperature using the Weather Research and Forecasting System (WRF) over the rapidly urbanizing and water-vulnerable Phoenix metropolitan area. A suite of monthly, high-resolution (2 km grid spacing) simulations are conducted during the month of July with both a contemporary landscape and a hypothetical presettlement scenario. WRF demonstrates excellent agreement in the representation of the daily to monthly diurnal cycle of near-surface temperatures, including the accurate simulation of maximum daytime temperature timing. Thermal sensitivity to anthropogenic land use and land cover change (LULCC), assessed via replacement of the modern-day landscape with natural shrubland, is small on the regional scale. The WRF-simulated characterization of the diurnal cycle, supported by previous observational analyses, illustrates two distinct and opposing impacts on the urbanized diurnal cycle of the Phoenix metro area, with evening and nighttime warming partially offset by daytime cooling. The simulated nighttime urban heat island (UHI) over this semiarid urban complex is explained by well-known mechanisms (slow release of heat from within the urban fabric stored during daytime and increased emission of longwave radiation from the urban canopy toward the surface). During daylight hours, the limited vegetation and dry semidesert region surrounding metro Phoenix warms at greater rates than the urban complex. Although prior work has suggested that daytime temperatures are lower within the urban complex owing to the addition of residential and agricultural irrigation (i.e., “oasis effect”) we show that modification of Phoenix's surrounding environment to a biome more representative of temperate regions eliminates the daytime urban cooling. Our results indicate that surrounding environmental conditions, including land cover and availability of soil moisture, play a principal role in establishing the nature and evolution of the diurnal cycle of near-surface temperature for the greater Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area relative to its rural and undeveloped counterpart.Corresponding Author:
Matei Georgescu
Arizona State University
[email protected]
The evolutionary approach to entropy: Reconciling Georgescu-Roegen's natural philosophy with the maximum entropy framework
No full textIn Georgescu-Roegen's classical, though controversial discussion of entropy in relation to economics, the dualism of mechanical and subjective time plays a pivotal role. I argue that this fundamental distinction also inheres modern approaches to maximum entropy. Following Searle, I introduce the ontological dualism of observer independent and observer relative facts, and show that the notion of entropy also manifests this dualism, in the sense of the contextuality of measurements in experimental settings. Extending on the notion of observer relativity, I argue that the MaxEnt principle can be generalized into a framework of analyzing the evolution of (biological, technological etc.) functions under natural selection, if functions are equated with inference devices. Then, observer relativity is function relativity. In hierarchical evolutionary systems, this corresponds to the Maximum Entropy Production Principle, in the sense that functional evolution approximates gradients of maximum dissipation of energy. Against this background, the Georgescu-Roegen dualism of time translates into the dualism of observer independent entropy, which is the object of MEPP, and observer relative entropy, which is the object of MaxEnt. Both are two aspects under which evolution in general and economic evolution in particular can be analyzed. --Georgescu-Roegen,maximum entropy,observer relativity,time,hierarchical evolutionary systems,natural selection,physical concepts of information
Some results on the dynamics generated by the Bazykin model
No full textA predator-prey model formerly proposed by A. Bazykin et al. [Bifurcation diagrams of planar dynamical systems (1985)] is analyzed in the case when two of the four parameters are kept fixed. Dynamics and bifurcation results are deduced by using the methods developed by D. K. Arrowsmith and C. M. Place [Ordinary differential equations (1982)], S.-N. Chow et al. [Normal forms and bifurcation of planar fields (1994)], Y. A. Kuznetsov [Elements of applied bifurcation theory (1998)], and A. Georgescu [Dynamic bifurcation diagrams for some models in economics and biology (2004)]. The global dynamic bifurcation diagram is constructed and graphically represented. The biological interpretation is presented, too
The concepts of stock and flow. A revisit of Georgescu-Roegen definitions
No full textAfter recalling the classical definitions of stock and flow introduced by Fisher, the paper briefly summarizes Georgescu-Roegen’s analysis of the production process and his definitions of the concepts of stock and flow, and also of those of fund and services necessary in his approach. The paper does then propose new definitions of the same four concepts and explore their implications for a different and more realistic approach to labor market analysis
Working Paper No. 54, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Ecological Economics
No full textThis inquiry seeks to establish that in his book The Entropy Law and the Economic Process [1971] (2013), author Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen provides a foundation for Ecological Economics. The Entropy Law implies that the economic process is limited because it is reliant on finite natural resources, e.g., fossil fuels and minerals, as the economic process involves relying upon low-entropy natural resources in the production of consumer goods, and then results in the discarding of high-entropy waste, e.g., heat in the form of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses, into the environment, eventually resulting in noticeable degradation. Notably, these ideas from Georgescu-Roegen’s work on the Entropy Law prove to be foundational for the field of Ecological Economics. Based upon the idea that the economy exists within a social system, which in turn is a subsystem of the biosphere, ecological economics views humans as being connected to the large environment, rather than separate from it. These views originate from and are closely aligned with Georgescu-Roegen’s writings on entropy and economics
La teoria bioeconomica di Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen e il «godimento della vita»
No full textLa tesi ripercorre e analizza l’opera scientifica di Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, dalla critica al concetto di utilità e alla teoria del comportamento del consumatore, all’identificazione del «godimento della vita» come fine ultimo del processo economico.
Si indagano le connessioni di questa opera con l’approccio sistemico nelle scienze e si ricercano, inoltre, gli influssi dell’autore sull’attuale impostazione dell’Ecological Economics.The thesis traces and analyzes the scientific work of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, from the criticism directed at the concept of utility and at the theory of the behaviour of the consumer, to the identification of «enjoyment of life» as the ultimate goal of the economic process.
The work investigates the connections of bioeconomics with the systemic approach in the sciences and seek also the influence of the author on the current setting of Ecological Economics
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