Synopsis On Open Systems

Résumé du document

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in academic the dialogue over the concept of ?Open Systems' (especially in non-mainstream approaches) many of which have recently been influenced by Critical Realism (Mearman, 2004: 2). Victoria Chick (Chick, 2004: 4) defines a system as "a network, a structure with connections within which agents act mostly in ways which reproduce and reinforce the system, but sometimes in ways which lead the system to evolve". Thus, an ?Open System' refers to a perpetually evolving structure with connections many of which are with the outside world.

Extraits

[...] (2004) Open Systems', Brazilian Review of Political Economy, 24: 1-16 Chick, V. and Dow, S. (2005) meaning of Open Systems', Journal of Economic Methodology, 12: 363-381 Loasby, B.J. (2003) ‘Closed Models and Open Systems', Journal of Economic Methodology, 10: 285-306 Mearman, A. (2004) ‘Open Systems and Economic Methodology', University of the West of England Working Paper in Economics, http://carecon.org.uk/DPs/0402.pdf Prendinger, H. and Ishizuka, M. (2000) ‘Methodological Considerations on Chance Discovery', In Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Control and Instrumentation (IECON-00). [...]

[...] Moreover, it is simple to find larger and more obvious ‘Open Systems' within Economics. Indeed, Chick asserts that not only are all parts of the economic system interconnected to a degree, but that economic system is embedded in and connected with politics, philosophy, history, values, all the elements of social life” (Chick, 2004: and thus the economy is ontologically an open system. Furthermore, Open-Systems Methodology is an open system in itself. As Mearman states, the world comprises open systems (albeit closed to different extents in each case), then economic methodology should be conceptualised as an open system” (Mearman, 2004: 13- 14). [...]

[...] Thus, the firm has an incentive to increase its wage pay out. This relationship with the labour subsystem is by definition open, because the demand-side mechanisms are affected by the supply-side factors in the real world. Chick and Dow's first condition is thus achieved (the properties of the demand-supply interaction are not defined by the properties of a firm's desire to minimise costs of production and its desire to maximise its revenue). The third condition is also satisfied. The system's boundaries are mutable; another company may enter the market and thus force change in the firm's market strategy, or there may be a shift in tastes and values, affecting consumers' marginal propensity to consume (among other factors). [...]

[...] For Real World systems, these conditions are firstly that the system is not ‘atomistic' and thus cannot be considered a sum of its parts (much as water is not defined by properties of Oxygen and Hydrogen, as postulated by Mearman (Mearman, 2004: and individual interactions may change with time. Secondly, Structure and agency are interdependent. Thirdly, the boundaries of a system are liable to change or alteration. Lastly, social structures exist within larger structures. For theoretical systems, Chick and Dow assert four other conditions. First, some variables may not be considered or their effects unknown. [...]

[...] Expanding on the conditions for Open Systems for Real World systems, if an event occurs, it is likely that the effects of one Economic mechanism will be affected by another. Mearman explains, “Economic and social structures, such as organisations and their rules, interact with the individual agents within them. Consequently, mechanisms might have a tendency, or way of acting, if triggered. However, each mechanism interacts with other mechanisms. Thus, when one mechanism is triggered, its effects are combined with other mechanisms” (Mearman, 2004: 5). [...]