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The Harvard-MIT complexity approach to development and Austrian economics: Similarities and policy implications

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  • Vicente Moreno-Casas

    (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)

Abstract

In recent years, researchers from MIT and Harvard University have developed a complexity approach to economic development. This perspective implicitly follows some characteristic elements of the complexity scientific paradigm emerged in the second half of the twentieth century but focuses on a practical application to economic development. As in the more general theory of complexity economics, this Harvard-MIT approach has many points in common with Austrian economics. This paper highlights these similarities, concerning capital theory, entrepreneurship, a knowledge-based view of the economy, organizational capabilities, and economic growth. As a result of these similarities, we also present the policy implications derived from the shared elements of the two currents, which materializes in the idea that the Harvard-MIT approach can adopt the Market Policy Pogramme (MPP), conceived by David Harper as a practical application of the fundamental theoretical principles of Austrian economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicente Moreno-Casas, 2023. "The Harvard-MIT complexity approach to development and Austrian economics: Similarities and policy implications," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 515-539, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:36:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11138-021-00565-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-021-00565-6
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complexity economics; Economic development; Tacit knowledge; Entrepreneurship; Capital theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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