Behaviours and Learning in Complex Evolving Economies

This paper provides an overview of behaviors and learning of heterogeneous economic agents—whether individuals or firms—within complex evolving economies. It aims to explore the microfoundation of agency and learning, two fundamental aspects that constitutively contribute to the emergence of micro, meso, and macro stylized facts of modern capitalist economies, conceived as complex evolving systems. The investigation begins at the individual level, drawing on insights from cognitive and social sciences and identifying relevant micro-evidence concerning the cognitive, psychological, behavioral, and social dimensions of human agency in complex and uncertain environments. It then shifts to the epistemological level organization, where individual behaviors and learning are interwoven with those of other members and embedded within the genuinely collective dimensions and emergent properties of the firm — such as organizational capabilities, heuristics, and power configurations— on which the analysis will focus. This perspective interprets the firm as a sort of primitive problem-solving entity and acknowledges that organizational behaviors and learning are “more” than what can be grasped by attending solely to insulated parts. The primary objective of this work is to contribute to a positive theory of behaviors and learning in complex evolving economies, while also offering a fertile ground for theoretical and modeling developments in search of realistic building blocks.