William Brian Arthur (born 31 July 1945) is an economist credited with developing the modern approach to increasing returns.[1] He has lived and worked in Northern California for many years. He is an authority on economics in relation to complexity theory, technology and financial markets. He has been on the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute, and a Visiting Researcher at the Intelligent Systems Lab[2] at PARC. He is credited with the invention of the El Farol Bar problem.
At age 37, Dr. Arthur was the youngest endowed chair holder at Stanford University.[3]
Arthur is the former Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies; Professor of Human Biology, Stanford University, 1983–1996. He is the co-founder of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies[4] at Stanford.
Arthur is one of the distinguished External Research Faculty[5] members at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Arthur's long association with the Institute started in 1987 with the introduction and support of Stanford economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Kenneth Arrow, and Philip Warren Anderson, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Arthur was named as the first director of the interdisciplinary Economics Program at the Institute beginning in 1988. He was named the Citibank Professor at the institute in 1994, with the endowment of Citibank and then-Citibank CEO John S. Reed.[6]
He served several terms on the Science Board[7] 1988–2006, and Board of Trustees,[8] 1994–2004, during his association with the institute.
Arthur was awarded an honorary Doctor of Economic Sciences degree from the National University of Ireland (2000), and an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa) from Lancaster University on 9 December 2009.
Arthur and several other Santa Fe Institute researchers are profiled extensively in the book Complexity by M. Mitchell Waldrop.[3]
Arthur is noted for his seminal works "studying the impacts of positive feedback or increasing returns in economies, and how these increasing returns magnify small, random occurrences in the market place."[11] These principles are especially significant in technology-specific industries where network effects commonly occur.(EL1)
Complexity theory
Arthur is one of the early economic researchers in the emerging complexity field. Specifically, his complexity studies focused on the "economics of high technology; how business evolves in an era of high technology; cognition in the economy; and financial markets."[12]
Arthur's comments on the evolution of complexity theory as a different way of seeing and conducting scientific inquiry:
Complexity theory is really a movement of the sciences. Standard sciences tend to see the world as mechanistic. That sort of science puts things under a finer and finer microscope. In biology the investigations go from classifying organisms to functions of organisms, then organs themselves, then cells, and then organelles, right down to protein and enzymes, metabolic pathways, and DNA. This is finer and finer reductionist thinking.
The movement that started complexity looks in the other direction. It’s asking, how do things assemble themselves? How do patterns emerge from these interacting elements? Complexity is looking at interacting elements and asking how they form patterns and how the patterns unfold. It’s important to point out that the patterns may never be finished. They’re open-ended. In standard science this hits some things that most scientists have a negative reaction to. Science doesn’t like perpetual novelty.[6]
How Technology Evolves
Arthur's book, The Nature of Technology: What it Is and How it Evolves, explores his belief that technology undergoes its own evolution, similar to Darwin's theory of evolution in Biology. Arthur's claim is that technology evolves out of earlier existing forms. He goes on to say that economies are not merely a container for these innovations, but rather economies arise as a result of new technological developments.[13]
W. Brian Arthur has published several books, papers, articles and more.[14] A selection:
1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
1997. The Economy as an Evolving Complex System II, edited with Steven Durlauf and David Lane, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, Series in the Sciences of Complexity.
2009. The Nature of Technology: What it is and How it Evolves. The Free Press and Penguin Books.
2021, "Foundations of Complexity Economics", overview article in Nature.
References
^Foreword by Nobel Economist Kenneth Arrow to Arthur's book Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy
^. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
^ abComplexity, M. Mitchell Waldrop, first published 1992.
^Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies
^. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
^ ab. [Dialog on Leadership]. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
^For a further selection of papers, articles, lectures and papers, see Some Selected Papers
External links
W. Brian Arthur, External Research Faculty, Santa Fe Institute
at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 January 2006), Dr. Arthur's remarks plus mind-mapped notes.
Further reading
The book Complexity, by M. Mitchell Waldrop, contains a biographical profile of W. Brian Arthur, and a description of Arthur's work at Stanford and at the Santa Fe Institute.
Source: The Inner Path to Knowledge Creation, by Joseph Jaworski, contains the story of the U-Process and W. Brian Arthur's contribution to its discovery, based on "Coming From Your Inner Self", reference above.
External links
An Interview with W. Brian Arthur by Joel Kurtzman / April 1, 1998 / Second Quarter 1998 / Issue 11 (originally published by Booz & Company) (Textise) (Original link URL)
January 29, 2023
brian, arthur, william, brian, arthur, born, july, 1945, economist, credited, with, developing, modern, approach, increasing, returns, lived, worked, northern, california, many, years, authority, economics, relation, complexity, theory, technology, financial, . William Brian Arthur born 31 July 1945 is an economist credited with developing the modern approach to increasing returns 1 He has lived and worked in Northern California for many years He is an authority on economics in relation to complexity theory technology and financial markets He has been on the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute and a Visiting Researcher at the Intelligent Systems Lab 2 at PARC He is credited with the invention of the El Farol Bar problem William Brian ArthurArthur at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011Born 1945 07 31 31 July 1945 age 77 Belfast Northern IrelandCitizenshipNorthern Ireland Ireland and UK United States permanent resident InstitutionsStanford University Santa Fe InstituteFieldComplexity economicsAlma materLancaster UniversityUniversity of MichiganDoctoraladvisorStuart DreyfusContributionsEl Farol Bar problem Increasing returns Contents 1 Biography 2 Work 2 1 Complexity theory 2 2 How Technology Evolves 3 See also 4 Publications 5 References 6 External links 7 Further reading 8 External linksBiography EditW Brian Arthur was born in 1945 in Belfast Northern Ireland He received his BSc in Electrical Engineering at Queen s University Belfast 1966 an M A in Operational Research 1967 at Lancaster University Lancaster England and an M A in Mathematics at the University of Michigan 1969 Arthur received his PhD in Operations Research 1973 and an M A in Economics 1973 from the University of California Berkeley At age 37 Dr Arthur was the youngest endowed chair holder at Stanford University 3 Arthur is the former Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies Professor of Human Biology Stanford University 1983 1996 He is the co founder of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies 4 at Stanford Arthur is one of the distinguished External Research Faculty 5 members at the Santa Fe Institute Santa Fe New Mexico USA Arthur s long association with the Institute started in 1987 with the introduction and support of Stanford economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Kenneth Arrow and Philip Warren Anderson winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics Arthur was named as the first director of the interdisciplinary Economics Program at the Institute beginning in 1988 He was named the Citibank Professor at the institute in 1994 with the endowment of Citibank and then Citibank CEO John S Reed 6 He served several terms on the Science Board 7 1988 2006 and Board of Trustees 8 1994 2004 during his association with the institute Arthur was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987 9 Arthur was also awarded the Schumpeter Prize in economics in 1990 10 and the inaugural Lagrange Prize for complexity science in 2008 Arthur was awarded an honorary Doctor of Economic Sciences degree from the National University of Ireland 2000 and an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree Honoris Causa from Lancaster University on 9 December 2009 Arthur and several other Santa Fe Institute researchers are profiled extensively in the book Complexity by M Mitchell Waldrop 3 He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society Work EditArthur is noted for his seminal works studying the impacts of positive feedback or increasing returns in economies and how these increasing returns magnify small random occurrences in the market place 11 These principles are especially significant in technology specific industries where network effects commonly occur EL1 Complexity theory Edit Arthur is one of the early economic researchers in the emerging complexity field Specifically his complexity studies focused on the economics of high technology how business evolves in an era of high technology cognition in the economy and financial markets 12 Arthur s comments on the evolution of complexity theory as a different way of seeing and conducting scientific inquiry Complexity theory is really a movement of the sciences Standard sciences tend to see the world as mechanistic That sort of science puts things under a finer and finer microscope In biology the investigations go from classifying organisms to functions of organisms then organs themselves then cells and then organelles right down to protein and enzymes metabolic pathways and DNA This is finer and finer reductionist thinking The movement that started complexity looks in the other direction It s asking how do things assemble themselves How do patterns emerge from these interacting elements Complexity is looking at interacting elements and asking how they form patterns and how the patterns unfold It s important to point out that the patterns may never be finished They re open ended In standard science this hits some things that most scientists have a negative reaction to Science doesn t like perpetual novelty 6 How Technology Evolves Edit Arthur s book The Nature of Technology What it Is and How it Evolves explores his belief that technology undergoes its own evolution similar to Darwin s theory of evolution in Biology Arthur s claim is that technology evolves out of earlier existing forms He goes on to say that economies are not merely a container for these innovations but rather economies arise as a result of new technological developments 13 See also EditSocial software social procedure Inductive reasoningPublications EditW Brian Arthur has published several books papers articles and more 14 A selection 1994 Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor 1997 The Economy as an Evolving Complex System II edited with Steven Durlauf and David Lane Addison Wesley Reading MA Series in the Sciences of Complexity 2009 The Nature of Technology What it is and How it Evolves The Free Press and Penguin Books 2021 Foundations of Complexity Economics overview article in Nature References Edit Foreword by Nobel Economist Kenneth Arrow to Arthur s book Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy Intelligent Systems Lab Archived from the original on 17 October 2007 Retrieved 17 October 2007 a b Complexity M Mitchell Waldrop first published 1992 Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies External Research Faculty Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 28 October 2007 a b Coming from Your Inner Self Conversation with W Brian Arthur Xerox PARC April 16 1999 by Joseph Jaworski Gary Jusela C Otto Scharmer Dialog on Leadership Archived from the original on 11 October 2007 Retrieved 27 October 2007 Science Board Board of Trustees John Simon Guggenheim Foundation W Brian Arthur www gf org Retrieved 13 September 2016 International Joseph A Schumpeter Society Schumpeter Prize in Economics Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Legg Mason conference bio for W Brian Arthur Legg Mason Retrieved 19 November 2007 Short Background Brian Arthur Santa Fe Institute Retrieved 27 October 2007 Brian Arthur Santa Fe Institute Retrieved 19 April 2019 For a further selection of papers articles lectures and papers see Some Selected PapersExternal links EditW Brian Arthur External Research Faculty Santa Fe Institute Legg Mason Thought Leader Forum 2004 at the Wayback Machine archived 8 January 2006 Dr Arthur s remarks plus mind mapped notes Further reading EditThe book Complexity by M Mitchell Waldrop contains a biographical profile of W Brian Arthur and a description of Arthur s work at Stanford and at the Santa Fe Institute Source The Inner Path to Knowledge Creation by Joseph Jaworski contains the story of the U Process and W Brian Arthur s contribution to its discovery based on Coming From Your Inner Self reference above External links EditAn Interview with W Brian Arthur by Joel Kurtzman April 1 1998 Second Quarter 1998 Issue 11 originally published by Booz amp Company Textise Original link URL Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title W Brian Arthur amp oldid 1116063536, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
