This book approaches economic problems from a systems thinking and feedback perspective. By introducing system dynamics methods (including qualitative and quantitative techniques) and computer simulation models, the respective contributions apply feedback analysis and dynamic simulation modeling to important local, national, and global economics issues and concerns. Topics covered include: an introduction to macro modeling using a system dynamics framework; a system dynamics translation of the Phillips machine; a re-examination of classical economic theories from a feedback perspective; analyses of important social, ecological, and resource issues; the development of a biophysical economics module for global modelling; contributions to monetary and financial economics; analyses of macroeconomic growth, income distribution and alternative theories of well-being; and a re-examination of scenario macro modeling.
The contributions also examine the philosophical differences between the economics and system dynamics communities in an effort to bridge existing gaps and compare methods. Many models and other supporting information are provided as online supplementary files. Consequently, the book appeals to students and scholars in economics, as well as to practitioners and policy analysts interested in using systems thinking and system dynamics modeling to understand and improve economic systems around the world.
"Clearly, there is much space for more collaboration between the advocates of post-Keynesian economics and system dynamics! More generally, I would like to recommend this book to all scholars and practitioners interested in exploring the interface and synergies between economics, system dynamics, and feedback thinking."
Comments in the Foreword by Marc Lavoie, Emeritus Professor, University of Ottawa and University of Sorbonne Paris Nord
Robert Y. Cavana is currently an Adjunct Professor (previously a Reader in Systems Science) with the Wellington School of Business and Government, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Auckland, NZ and a PhD in Management (System Dynamics) from the University of Bradford, UK. Prior to joining VUW in 1989, he was the Corporate Economist with the NZ Railways Corporation. He is a past President of the NZ Operational Research Society, a past President (Economics Chapter) and Vice-President of the International System Dynamics Society, and a former Managing Editor of System Dynamics Review. He was previously on the Executive Board of the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management and is currently a Fellow of ANZAM.
Professor Cavana received the Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies Honorary Award as “Distinguished Scientist in the Scientific area of Systems Approach” in 2009. He haspublished in a wide range of international journals, and he is a co-author of Systems Thinking, System Dynamics: Managing Change and Complexity (Pearson Education, Auckland, 2000 & 2007) and Applied Business Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods (Wiley, Brisbane, 2001; Chinese edition 2004). He recently co-edited the Systems online special issue and book on ‘Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet’ (MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 2018).
Brian C. Dangerfield is currently employed in the School of Management at the University of Bristol, joining in 2014. After a short spell in industrial Operational Research, he was hired by the University of Liverpool, UK before moving on to the University of Salford where he was promoted to a Chair in Systems Modelling in 2000. Educated in the UK, he holds a bachelor's degree in Economics, Statistics & Operational Research from Swansea University, a post-graduate diploma in Industrial Administration from Bradford University and a PhD (System Dynamics) from Salford University.
Professor Dangerfield was awarded the UK Operational Research Society's President's Medal in 1991 and their Goodeve Medal in 2006, both awards being for health-related papers applying the system dynamics methodology. During 2009/10 he served as the President of the Economics Chapter of the International System Dynamics Society and for the ten years to 2011 he was Executive Editor of the System Dynamics Review. In 2018 he was awarded a gold medal from the UK System Dynamics Society for an Outstanding Contribution to UK System Dynamics.
Oleg V. Pavlov is an Associate Professor of Economics and System Dynamics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. He uses simulations and systems thinking tools to study causal feedback effects in complex social and economic systems. He has taught in the U.S., Finland,China, Russia, and the UK, and he has been involved in K-12 outreach programs. He serves on the editorial boards of the System Dynamics Review and the Entrepreneurship Research Journal. Professor Pavlov is a past President of the Economics Chapter of the International System Dynamics Society and he was a Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellow. He earned a PhD and a master’s degree in Economics and a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Southern California. He also holds an MBA from Cornell University.
Michael J. Radzicki is an Associate Professor of Economics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA and the creator of WPI’s program in system dynamics computer simulation modeling. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame and his training in system dynamics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Radzicki’s research lies at the interface of system dynamics and economics, and he has served on the editorial board of several academic journals. In 2004 he was elected the inaugural president of the Economics Chapter of the System Dynamics Society and in 2006, as president of the System Dynamics Society.
I. David Wheat is Emeritus Professor of System Dynamics at the University of Bergen, Norway, and teaches economic systems modeling to graduate students in Norway, Ukraine, and Lithuania. A key component of his macroeconomics instruction has been the use of MacroLab, a simulation model he created in 2001 to explain simple dynamics to undergraduates in the United States. The latest version retains the integration of demand- and supply-side theories within a stock-flow-feedback framework, and new features include a sub-model that tracks financial stock-flow consistency. Professor Wheat’s current projects include collaboration with Ukrainian economists to build dynamic modeling capacity at universities in Kyiv and Lviv.
