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The aspects and the role of diversity in socioeconomic systems: an evolutionary perspective

In an evolutionary perspective, diversity is seen as a systemic and resilient property of both biological and socioeconomic systems. Functional aspects of biological and cultural diversity relate to adaptation to different environments, avoidance of head-to-head competition, efficient use of energy and resources, and in providing a range of responses to new selective pressures. Structural aspects of diversity are identified in asymmetric distributions of key variables like size, metabolism and complexity, which take the form of skewed distributions and power law across various hierarchical levels. The existence of functional and structural analogues between biological and socioeconomic systems suggests the possibility of similar constraints and propensities of self- organization at work in both systems. These could shed new light on the ongoing process of globalization and economic development. This paper proposes the hypothesis of required socioeconomic diversity if systemic coherence and integrity of the world socioeconomic system is to be maintained. The reduction of this diversity below a certain threshold may provoke a critical instability of the world economic system leading to collapses of all sizes.

Evolution ; Culture ; Complex adaptive systems ; Diversity, Skewed distributions ; Power-law ; Socioeconomic systems

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