Implicit Microfoundations for Macroeconomics

Abstract: A large market economy has a huge number of degrees of freedom with weak microlevel coordination. The ‘implicit microfoundations’ approach considers this property of micro-level interactions to more strongly determine macro-level outcomes compared to the precise details of individual choice behavior; that is, the ‘particle’ nature of individuals dominates their ‘mechanical’ nature. So rather than taking an ‘explicit microfoundations’ approach, in which individuals are represented as ‘white-box’ sources of fully-specified optimizing behavior (‘rational agents’), we instead represent individuals as ‘black box’ sources of unpredictable noise subject to objective constraints (‘zero-intelligence agents’). To illustrate the potential of the approach we examine a parsimonious, agent-based macroeconomic model with implicit microfoundations. It generates many of the reported empirical distributions of capitalist economies, including the distribution of income, firm sizes, firm growth, GDP and recessions.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Implicit Microfoundations for Macroeconomics ; volume:3 ; number:1 ; year:2009 ; extent:29 ; Economics / Journal articles. Journal articles ; 3, Heft 1 (2009) (gesamt 29)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Wright, Ian

Further information

• DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2009-19
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2412121805450.000454396880
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:36 AM CEST