This book explores the question of whether and how meme theory or “memetics” can be fruitfully utilized in evolutionary economics and proposes an approach known as “economemetics” which is a combination of meme theory and complexity theory that has the potential to combat the fragmentation of evolutionary economics while re-connecting the field with cultural evolutionary theory. By studying the intersection of cultural and economic evolution, complexity economics, computational economics, and network science, the authors establish a connection between memetics and evolutionary economics at different levels of investigation.
The book first demonstrates how a memetic approach to economic evolution can help to reveal links and build bridges between different but complementary concepts in evolutionary economics. Secondly, it shows how organizational memetics can help to capture the complexity of organizational culture using meme mapping. Thirdly, it presents an agent-based simulation model of knowledge diffusion and assimilation in innovation networks from a memetic perspective. The authors then use agent-based modeling and social network analysis to evaluate the diffusion pattern of the Ice Bucket Challenge as an example of a “viral meme.” Lastly, the book discusses the central issues of agency, creativity, and normativity in the context of economemetics and suggests promising avenues for further research.
Author(s): Michael P. Schlaile
Series: Economic Complexity and Evolution
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 205
City: Cham
Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Acknowledgment of previously published work
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Editorial Introduction: We Are the Memes, Resistance Is Futile
1.1 Positioning, Aims, and Scope
1.2 Contribution and Structure of the Book
References
2 ``Meme Wars'': A Brief Overview of Memetics and Some Essential Context
2.1 Episode I: The Phantom Memetics
2.2 Episode II: Attack of the Meme Machines
2.3 Episode III: Revenge of the Myth
2.4 Episode IV: A New Replicator
2.5 Episode V: The Interactor Strikes Back
2.6 Episode VI: Return of the Memeplex
References
3 A Case for Economemetics? Why Evolutionary Economists Should Re-evaluate the (F)utility of Memetics
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Some Clarification and Classification
3.3 Implications of the Informationalist Perspective on Memes
3.3.1 No Meme is an Island: Memeplexes as Complex Systems
3.3.2 The Economics of Attention: Memes in Competition for a Scarce Resource
3.4 Rules and Imitation
3.5 Conclusion: Building Bridges and Pointing the Way
References
4 It's More Than Complicated! Using Organizational Memetics to Capture the Complexity of Organizational Culture
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Memetics and Complexity
4.3 Literature Review
4.4 Case Example
4.4.1 Sample and Method
4.4.2 The Complex Memetic System of P3 Automotive
4.4.3 Meme Map and Results
4.4.4 Discussion and Limitations
4.5 Conclusion and Avenues for Future Research
References
5 It's a Match! Simulating Compatibility-based Learning in a Network of Networks
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Theoretical Background
5.2.1 Relevant Literature and Research Focus
5.2.2 Motivation and Foundations
5.2.3 Model Description
5.3 Results
5.3.1 Baseline Analysis
5.3.2 Effects of Knowledge Diversity
5.3.3 Extended Analysis: Approaching the Qualitative Dimension of Knowledge
5.3.4 The Importance of Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
5.3.5 Results for Different Innovation Network Properties
5.4 Conclusion and Outlook
References
6 Viral Ice Buckets: A Memetic Perspective on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge's Diffusion
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Theoretical Background
6.2.1 Successful Memetic Replication and Diffusion
6.2.2 The IBC as a Meme
6.3 Descriptive Memetic Analysis
6.3.1 Origins and Examples of Variants of the IBC Meme
6.3.2 Remarks on the IBC Meme's Diffusion Pattern
6.3.3 Important Characteristics for the IBC's Diffusion
6.4 Agent-based Simulation of the IBC Diffusion
6.4.1 Baseline Scenario
6.4.2 Influence of Average Resistance
6.4.3 Influence of Social Network Topology
6.4.4 Influence of Celebrities
6.5 Discussion and Practical Implications
6.6 Conclusion and Outlook
References
7 General Discussion: Economemetics and Agency, Creativity, and Normativity
7.1 Agency—Memes as Quasi-Agents?
7.2 Everything is a Remix? A Note on Creativity and Novelty
7.3 Memethics: Normative Implications
References
8 Conclusion and the Way(s) Forward
8.1 General Limitations
8.2 Summary and Outlook
References
