Mesoeconomics

Mesoeconomics

In Ancient Greek, micro means small, meso means middle and macro means large. Unlike macroeconomics (larger picture) and microeconomics (individual), mesoeconomics is a new and debated field, supposed to characterize the items that fail to fit in either of the preceding categories. These neologistic theories began circulating in the eighties. The subject failed to attract much weight. The term is largely unrecognized; even proliferate searches in the literature end up with relatively little about the topic. Many question not only the validity, but the very existence of the whole paradigmatical structure.

A common criticism is that the field would be centring exclusively on exceptions. The field examines social phenomena and its economic repercussions and overlaps with many others such as sector and welfare, institutional economics, game theory and strategy, political economy and information theory.

Joseph A. Schumpeter was an economist associated with the meso level. As depicted by Dopfer (2006) on p. 1, Schumpeter’s proposition postulates “that entrepreneurs carry out innovations (micro), that swarms of followers imitate them (meso)” and, thus, “creative destruction leads to economic development from within (macro)”. Schumpeterian and Neo Schumpeterian (evolutionary), classical and neoclassical economic views are discussed in the work. There are two levels of economic analysis: operant and generic. The former would focus on commodities, while the latter on knowledge.

Actually, the stories of how Einstein and Schumpeter got their discoveries are told. Apparently, the physicist channelled all his scientific efforts towards light, while the economist to social life questions. More precisely, the economic mind determined that energetic personalities (entrepreneurs) lead change (cognitive novelty) in socializing. The ‘agens’ of the entrepreneur drives innovation, which in turn fosters progress. The Malthusian principle posits that as population increases, limited resources will diminish, therefore there need to be positive (increase death rate: war, disease, natural disaster), and negative (reduce fertility: famine), checks on the population. Thomas Malthus theorized that famine acted as pressure to reduce the birth rate.

Manhattan. Conflicts are never caused in any simple way by identity, culture or economics. Where resources are scarce, or there are strong historical memories of conflict, small events are more likely to inflame passions. (Geoff Mulgan). Photo: Megan Jorgensen (Elena).

The famously rejected by Creationists, survival of the fittest theory from Charles Darwin’s book the On the Origin of Species, is largely predicated on the Malthusian principle. Economically speaking, the equilibrium sustenance would shift as the returns on agriculture plummeted.

The entropy law, transposed to economics, means that need satisfaction will require trading. An inactive status quo would result in material loss. Thus, in at least two papers (Dopfer, 2006: Dopfer, 2004), the author proposes the concept of Homo sapiens oeconomicus, the one with the capacity to use knowledge as capital in response to the foreshadowed entropic problematic. The genus is better apt at static than dynamic problems, reacting to the environment rather than influencing it.

Some social psychologists counsel that to be assertive in interpersonal relationships, one must accept the others as they are, save the time and energy that would be dispensed at the fruitless task of trying to modify them and invest it into something productive instead. Perhaps, the behaviour is indeed exceptionally rational. Instead of simply stating that some categorizations do not belong in either micro or macro, the feel one gets from the composition is that some elements contain both parts, if that is what is meant by bimodality.

References:

• Dopfer, K. (2006). The origins of meso economics Schumpeter’s legacy. In Evolutionary Economics Group: MPI Jena Ed., Papers on economics and evolution. Max Planck Gesellschaft: Jena, Germany.
• Dopfer, K., Foster, J. & Potts, J. (2004). Micro-meso-macro. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 14: 263-279.