In this paper we discuss and critique the theory (and lack thereof) on inequality in economics. We suggest that the discipline is uncomfortable on the whole with analysing the phenomenon and that those theorists who have asked how inequality arises and what its economic consequences are do so...

We suggest in this paper that inequality in economic systems can be profitably analysed using complex systems analysis. We explain how we can capture, analytically, complexity in an economic system by applying graph theory in networks. We then develop a highly stylised theoretical model of how...

Kapeller et al. [2012] argue that consumer choice in the presence of multiple- attribute products is structurally equivalent to the social choice problem to which Arrow's famed impossibility theorem applies and that therefore rational consumer choice is impossible. While I do not deny rational...

In standard models of rational choice it is typically taken for granted that preferences are given and defined over the alternatives alone, and the possibility of making a rational choice is simply a matter of assumption. In this paper I generalise this aspect of the economic model so that...

We introduce a theory of return-seeking firms to study the differences between this and standard profit-maximising models. In a competitive market return-maximising firms minimise average total costs leading to output choices independent of price movements. We investigate the potential for...

In the process of expectations formation, autonomous economic agents are usually assumed to form homogeneous expectations, e.g. adaptive or extrapolative, on former or current evaluations, or to act according to the rational-expectations hypothesis. In this paper we use a model of interdependent...

The applicability of complex systems theory in economics is evaluated and compared with standard approaches to economic theorising based upon constrained optimisation. A complex system is defined in the economic context and differentiated from complex systems in physio-chemical and biological...

In modeling expectation formation, economic agents are usually viewed as forming expectations adaptively or in accordance with some rationality postulate. We offer an alternative nonlinear model where agents exchange their opinions and information with each other. Such a model yields multiple...

Building on the ontology of evolutionary realism recently proposed by Dopfer and Potts (forthcoming), we develop an analytical framework for evolutionary economics with a micro-meso-macro architecture. The motive for reconception is to make clear the highly complex and emergent nature of...