SFI Program on "Emergence of States and Markets"

In the social as well as in the biological sciences, one of the major outstanding puzzles is the constitution of actors (or phenotypes). This in spite of the fact that most understandings of social dynamics--from the short-term production of innovations to long-term transitions between regimes--hinge crucially on changing functionalities of actors. The dynamics of macro system change and the dynamics of micro actor creation often coevolve. "Games" are not just solved in their play; "games" are sometimes transformed through their play. Because of this, we need a theory not just of actor behavior, but also a theory of the generation of actor types.