The chapter provides a concise discussion of the role of mathematics in economic theory. After a brief overview of the main applications of the mathematical methods to economic problems, the chapter focuses on general equilibrium theory in its atemporal and intertemporal versions and discusses the concepts of equilibrium and dynamics in natural sciences and economics. In this context, business ...

What accounts for economic growth and prosperity? What stands at their origin? Recent literature typically searches for single univariate causal explanations: institutions, culture, human capital, geography. In this paper we provide instead a first theoretical modeling of the interaction between different possible explanations for growth and prosperity (in particular, between culture and instit...

This study presents an empirical evidence concerning the comparison of  the dynamics of competitiveness in the creative and manufacturing industries. It investigated the impact of the economic crisis in the behavior of the competitiveness of those industries. The samples were 42 firms taken from 3 sub-sectors of the creative industries and 3 sub-sectors of the manufacturing industries listed in...

Abstract. System dynamics modelling is one of the best scientific methods for modelling complex, nonlinear natural, economic and technical system dynamics as it enables both monitoring and assessment of the effects of intellectual capital on economic growth. Intellectual capital is defined as “the ability to transform knowledge and intangible assets into resources to create wealth for a company...

The dynamic economic behavior in most integrated assessment models linking economic growth to climate change involves a differential equation solved by Jacob Bernoulli in 1695. Using the dynamic integrated climate economy (DICE) model and freezing exogenous variables at initial values, this dynamic is shown to produce implausible projections on a 60-year time frame. If world capital started at ...

Background Previous studies have mostly focused on socio-demographic and health-related determinants of health-related behaviors. Although comprehensive health insurance coverage could discourage individual lifestyle improvement due to the ex-ante moral hazard problem, few studies have examined such effects. This study examines the association of a comprehensive set of factors including socio-d...

Internet development holds the promise of transmitting economic value across physical space at zero marginal cost. In such a “weightless economy”, what factors matter for the location of economic activity and thus for economic development? This paper sketches a model of spatial dynamics over a three-dimensional globe, where transportation costs don’t matter. The paper develops conditions under ...

The unsteady increase in using pharmaceutical opioids is a phenomenon that has existed in human societies for a long time. Furthermore, the ever-growing trend of addiction to opioids affects communities in various economic, social, and cultural aspects. Since abusing pharmaceutical opioids is a complex dynamic problem, it is extremely difficult to recognize the factors influencing this abuse. T...