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Complex adaptive system

About: Complex adaptive system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3190 publications have been published within this topic receiving 111947 citations. The topic is also known as: Complex adaptive system, CAS.


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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) as discussed by the authors models economic processes as dynamic systems of interacting agents, and explores the potential advantages and disadvantages of ACE for the study of economic systems.
Abstract: Economies are complicated systems encompassing micro behaviors, interaction patterns, and global regularities. Whether partial or general in scope, studies of economic systems must consider how to handle difficult real-world aspects such as asymmetric information, imperfect competition, strategic interaction, collective learning, and the possibility of multiple equilibria. Recent advances in analytical and computational tools are permitting new approaches to the quantitative study of these aspects. One such approach is Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) , the computational study of economic processes modeled as dynamic systems of interacting agents. This chapter explores the potential advantages and disadvantages of ACE for the study of economic systems. General points are concretely illustrated using an ACE model of a two-sector decentralized market economy. Six issues are highlighted: Constructive understanding of production, pricing, and trade processes; the essential primacy of survival; strategic rivalry and market power; behavioral uncertainty and learning; the role of conventions and organizations; and the complex interactions among structural attributes, institutional arrangements, and behavioral dispositions.

759 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
29 Sep 2001-BMJ
TL;DR: This article describes applications of complexity thinking in the organisation and management of health care and suggests that relationships between parts are more important than the parts themselves, that minimum specifications yield more creativity than detailed plans.
Abstract: This is the third in a series of four articles Current management thinking largely assumes that a well functioning organisation is akin to a well oiled machine.1 This leads to the notion that performance is optimised when work is specified in detail and shared out to distinct operational units.2 Clinicians often object to these detailed specifications, while managers bemoan a lack of cooperation.3 The first article in this series introduced an alternative to the machine metaphor; that of a complex adaptive system (CAS).4 In this article we describe applications of complexity thinking in the organisation and management of health care. #### Summary points Management thinking has viewed the organisation as a machine and believed that considering parts in isolation, specifying changes in detail, battling resistance to change, and reducing variation will lead to better performance In contrast, complexity thinking suggests that relationships between parts are more important than the parts themselves, that minimum specifications yield more creativity than detailed plans Treating organisations as complex adaptive systems allows a new and more productive management style to emerge in health care ![][1] (Credit: LIANE PAYNE) The interactions within a complex adaptive system are often more important than the discrete actions of the individual parts. As the examples below illustrate, a productive or generative relationship occurs when interactions among parts of a complex system produce valuable, new, and unpredictable capabilities that are not inherent in any of the parts acting alone.5 Although health care depends largely on productive interaction, the organisation and management of its delivery surprisingly does not always reflect this insight. In the United Kingdom, for example, having separate budgets and performance targets for primary care, secondary care, and social services promotes an internal focus on the operation of each of these parts, but not necessarily the good functioning of … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif

746 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Language as a Complex Adaptive System (LAS) approach as discussed by the authors is a model for language acquisition that is based on a complex adaptive system consisting of multiple agents (the speakers in the speech community) interacting with one another.
Abstract: Language has a fundamentally social function. Processes of human interaction along with domain-general cognitive processes shape the structure and knowledge of language. Recent research in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that patterns of use strongly affect how language is acquired, is used, and changes. These processes are not independent of one another but are facets of the same complex adaptive system (CAS). Language as a CAS involves the following key features: The system consists of multiple agents (the speakers in the speech community) interacting with one another. The system is adaptive; that is, speakers’ behavior is based on their past interactions, and current and past interactions together feed forward into future behavior. A speaker's behavior is the consequence of competing factors ranging from perceptual constraints to social motivations. The structures of language emerge from interrelated patterns of experience, social interaction, and cognitive mechanisms. The CAS approach reveals commonalities in many areas of language research, including first and second language acquisition, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, language evolution, and computational modeling.

723 citations

01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The principles of complex adaptive systems as a framework are reviewed, providing a number of interpretations from eminent researches in the field, and the theory is used to phrase some ambiguus work in the fields of artificial immune systems and artificial life.
Abstract: The field of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) is approximately 20 years old, having been established by physicists, economists, and others studying complexity at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, USA. The field has spawned much work, such as Holland's contributions of genetic algorithms, classifier systems, and his ecosystem simulator, which assisted in provoking the fields of evolutionary computation and artificial life. The framework of inducted principles derived from many natural and artificial examples of complex systems has assisted in the investigation in such diverse fields of study as psychology, anthropology, genetic evolution, ecology, and business management theory, although a unified theory of such complex systems still appears to be a long way off. This work reviews the principles of complex adaptive systems as a framework, providing a number of interpretations from eminent researches in the field. Many example works are cited, and the theory is used to phrase some ambiguus work in the field of artificial immune systems and artificial life. The methodology of using simulations of CAS as the starting point for models in the field of biological inspired computation is postulated as an important contribution of CAS to that field.

702 citations

Book
05 Apr 2007
TL;DR: The "The Origin of Wealth" as discussed by the authors surveys the cutting-edge ideas of the leading economists, physicists, biologists and cognitive scientists who are fundamentally reshaping economics, and brings their work alive for a broad audience.
Abstract: Economics is changing radically. This paradigm shift, the biggest in the field for over a century, will have profound implications for business, government and society for decades to come. In this groundbreaking book, economic thinker and writer Eric Beinhocker surveys the cutting-edge ideas of the leading economists, physicists, biologists and cognitive scientists who are fundamentally reshaping economics, and brings their work alive for a broad audience. These researchers argue that the economy is a 'complex adaptive system', more akin to the brain, the internet or an ecosystem than to the static picture of economic systems portrayed by traditional theory. They claim it is the evolutionary process of differentiation, selection and amplification, acting on designs for technologies, social institutions and businesses that drives growth in the economy over time. If Adam Smith provided the inspiration for economics in the twentieth century, it is Charles Darwin who is providing it in the twenty-first. If we can understand how evolution creates wealth, then we can better answer the question 'How can we create more wealth for the benefit of individuals, businesses and society?' Beinhocker shows how 'Complexity Economics' turns conventional wisdom on its head in areas such as business strategy, the design of organisations, the workings of stock markets and public policy. As sweeping in scope as its title, "The Origin of Wealth" is a landmark book that shatters orthodox economic theory, and will rewire our thinking about how we came to be here - and where we are going.

684 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202336
202269
2021120
2020132
2019152
2018191