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Power Laws Are Disguised Boltzmann Laws

Author

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  • PETER RICHMOND

    (Department of Physics, Trinity College Dublin 2, Ireland)

  • SORIN SOLOMON

    (Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

Abstract

Using a previously introduced model on generalized Lotka–Volterra dynamics together with some recent results for the solution of generalized Langevin equations, we derive analytically the equilibrium mean field solution for the probability distribution of wealth and show that it has two characteristic regimes. For large values of wealth, it takes the form of a Pareto style power law. For small values of wealth,w ≤ wm, the distribution function tends sharply to zero. The origin of this law lies in the random multiplicative process built into the model. Whilst such results have been known since the time of Gibrat, the present framework allows for a stable power law in an arbitrary and irregular global dynamics, so long as the market is "fair", i.e., there is no net advantage to any particular group or individual.We further show that the dynamics of relative wealth is independent of the specific nature of the agent interactions and exhibits a universal character even though the total wealth may follow an arbitrary and complicated dynamics.In developing the theory, we draw parallels with conventional thermodynamics and derive for the system some new relations for the "thermodynamics" associated with the Generalized Lotka–Volterra type of stochastic dynamics. The power law that arises in the distribution function is identified with new additional logarithmic terms in the familiar Boltzmann distribution function for the system. These are a direct consequence of the multiplicative stochastic dynamics and are absent for the usual additive stochastic processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Richmond & Sorin Solomon, 2001. "Power Laws Are Disguised Boltzmann Laws," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(03), pages 333-343.
  • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijmpcx:v:12:y:2001:i:03:n:s0129183101001754
    DOI: 10.1142/S0129183101001754
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Urbanowicz, Krzysztof & Richmond, Peter & Hołyst, Janusz A., 2007. "Risk evaluation with enhanced covariance matrix," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 384(2), pages 468-474.
    2. Masanao Aoki & Hiroshi Yoshikawa, 2006. "Stock Prices and the Real Economy: Power Law versus Exponential Distributions," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 1(1), pages 45-73, May.
    3. Patriarca, Marco & Chakraborti, Anirban & Germano, Guido, 2006. "Influence of saving propensity on the power-law tail of the wealth distribution," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 369(2), pages 723-736.
    4. Richmond, Peter & Repetowicz, Przemek & Hutzler, Stefan & Coelho, Ricardo, 2006. "Comments on recent studies of the dynamics and distribution of money," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 370(1), pages 43-48.
    5. Navarro-Barrientos, Jesús Emeterio & Cantero-Álvarez, Rubén & Matias Rodrigues, João F. & Schweitzer, Frank, 2008. "Investments in random environments," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(8), pages 2035-2046.
    6. E. Samanidou & E. Zschischang & D. Stauffer & T. Lux, 2007. "Agent-based Models of Financial Markets," Papers physics/0701140, arXiv.org.
    7. Coelho, Ricardo & Richmond, Peter & Barry, Joseph & Hutzler, Stefan, 2008. "Double power laws in income and wealth distributions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(15), pages 3847-3851.
    8. E. Samanidou & E. Zschischang & D. Stauffer & T. Lux, 2001. "Microscopic Models of Financial Markets," Papers cond-mat/0110354, arXiv.org.
    9. Cornelia Metzig & Mirta B. Gordon, 2013. "A Model for Scaling in Firms' Size and Growth Rate Distribution," Papers 1304.4311, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2013.
    10. Yuri Biondi & Simone Righi, 2019. "Inequality, mobility and the financial accumulation process: a computational economic analysis," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 14(1), pages 93-119, March.
    11. Metzig, Cornelia & Gordon, Mirta B., 2014. "A model for scaling in firms’ size and growth rate distribution," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 398(C), pages 264-279.
    12. Maciej Jagielski & Ryszard Kutner, 2011. "Wealth Modeling of Polish Households Using Statistical Methods," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 25.

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