Person

W. Brian Arthur

Economist of complexity, increasing returns, and path dependence in technology and economic systems.

Why this matters

Arthur shows how small early advantages compound—why lock-in and sediment matter for institutions and infrastructure.

Works

article

Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by

Arthur, W. Brian. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events." *Economic Journal* 99, no. 394 (1989): 116–131.

article

Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy.

Arthur, W. Brian. "Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy." In *The Economy as an Evolving Complex System II*, edited by W. Brian Arthur, Steven N. Durlauf, and David A. Lane, 1–24. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997.

Related books

Book

Living in Sediment

How Structures Outlive Their Reasons

We live inside inherited systems built for constraints that no longer exist. When structures survive after their reasons disappear, meaning drifts—and the danger is forgetting the sediment is sediment.