First principles of evolutionary microeconomics

Abstract

This thesis explores the theoretical nature of an evolutionary microeconomics. The argument is made that there are two basic foundations upon which a system of microeconomics can be constructed. These are an integral space, which is associated with the neowalrasian framework, and a non-integral space, which is the domain of the heterodox schools. From this distinction, the first principles of the statics and dynamics of an evolutionary microeconomics are defined. This elevates the concept of complexity and the model of a complex system to the centre of this framework. Some applications toward multi-agent simulation modelling of evolutionary dynamics are sketched and methodological conclusions drawn.

The main result is methodological and meta-theoretical. It is to show how all heterodox schools of thought can be connected to the theoretical framework of an evolutionary microeconomics. The re-interpretations that follow are set out in this thesis. I suggest a critical re-orientation of heterodox research toward the study of connections within the matrix of an economic system.