Paper detail

Contextual and Structural Representations of Market-mediated Economic Value

How do we assign value to economic transactions? To answer this question, we must consider whether the value of objects is inherent, is a product of social interaction, or involves other mechanisms. Economic theory predicts that there is an optimal price for any market transaction, and can be observed during auctions or other bidding processes. However, there are also social, cultural, and cognitive components to the assignation of value, which can be observed in both human and non-human Primate societies. While behaviors related to these factors are embedded in market interactions, they also involve a biological substrate for the assignation of value (valuation). To synthesize this diversity of perspectives, we will propose that the process of valuation can be modeled computationally and conceived of as a set of interrelated cultural evolutionary, cognitive, and neural processes. To do this, contextual geometric structures (CGS) will be placed in an agent-based context (minimal and compositional markets). Objects in the form of computational propositions can be acquired and exchanged, which will determine the value of both singletons and linked propositions. Expected results of this model will be evaluated in terms of their contribution to understanding human economic phenomena. The paper will focus on computational representations and how they correspond to real-world concepts. The implications for evolutionary economics and our contemporary understanding of valuation and market dynamics will also be discussed.