Nonlinear Evolution of Spatial Economic Systems

Is our world more dynamic than it used to be in the past? Have phenomena in the social science field become unpredictable? Are chaotic events nowadays occurring more frequently than in the past? Such questions are often raised in popular debates on nonlinear evolution and self-organizing systems. At the same time, many scientists are also raising various intruiging methodological issues. Is it possible to separate deterministic chaos from random disturbances if their trajectories are (almost) similar? Is prediction still possible in a world of chaos (Poincare)? Is it possible to distinguish specification errors from measurement errors in a nonlinear dynamic model? Is evolution a random process? The list of such questions can easily be extended with dozens of others. But despite the myriad of questions on problems of nonlinear evolution, one common trait is evident: in both the natural and the social sciences we are still groping in the dark in areas which are par excellence promising hunting grounds for exploratory and exploratory research, viz. structural grounds in an uncertain nonlinear world. The present book aims at offering a collection of refreshing contributions to the above research issues by focusing attention, in particular on nonlinear dynamic evolution in space at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) in Wassenaar, the Netherlands. The Institute has to be thanked for its hospitality and support, reflected inter alia in a workshop at which several of the papers included in this book were discussed.

Autorentext
Peter Nijkamp is Professor in Regional and Urban Economics and in Economic Geography at the VU University, Amsterdam. His main research interests cover quantitative plan evaluation, regional and urban modelling, multicriteria analysis, transport systems analysis, mathematical systems modelling, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, environmental and resource management, and sustainable development. In the past years he has focussed his research in particular on new quantitative methods for policy analysis, as well as on spatial-behavioural analysis of economic agents. He has a broad expertise in the area of public policy, services planning, infrastructure management and environmental protection. In all these fields he has published many books and numerous articles.
In 1996, he was awarded the most prestigious scientific prize in the Netherlands, the Spinoza award.

Klappentext

This book brings together a collection of contributions to nonlinear dynamic spatial systems analysis. Particular attention is paid to socio-economic backgrounds and foundations of nonlinear dynamics, with a particular view on its implications for spatial systems. Topics covered include inter alia, chaos theory, niche theory, fractal theory and bifurcation theory. Particular attention is paid to the relevance of such new approaches to (spatial) economics and geography.

Inhalt

1. Nonlinear Evolution of Socioeconomic and Spatial Systems.- A: Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics.- 2. Lessons from Nonlinear Dynamics Economics.- 3. Survey of Nonlinear Dynamic Modelling in Economics.- 4. Towards a Dynamic Disequilibrium Theory of Economy.- 5. Complex Transient Motion in Continuous-Time Economic Models.- 6. Economic Structure and Nonlinear Dynamic Development.- B: Spatial Representations of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems.- 7. Microeconomics and the Dynamic Modelling of Spatial Systems.- 8. Spatial Evolution in Complex Systems.- 9. Speculations on Fractal Geometry in Spatial Dynamics.- 10. Complex Dynamics and Fractal Urban Form.- 11. Complex Behaviour in Spatial Networks.- 12. Dynamical Basis of Large Deviations and Power Laws in Complex Systems.- Contributors.