The edge of chaos
Markets as complex systems, and what that means for the law. 18 publications, from 2020 to 2026.
All 18 publications
Newest first2026
Innovation on Rugged Technological Landscapes: Implications for Competition Policy
Steven Callander, Nicolas Lambert and Niko Matouschek
Digital and technology markets are often analyzed as if innovation moves along a smooth path. We describe an alternative view: innovation unfolds on rugged technological landscapes, where firms learn from prior successes and…
The Matthew Effect at Scale: Attention Scarcity and the AI Output Explosion
Generative AI is lowering the marginal cost of academic writing. A natural prediction is that this will allow more researchers to exercise scientific influence. This article argues that the effects are more complex.
2025
The Future-Proof Fantasy of AI Regulation
The EU’s quest for “future-proof” AI regulation is a fantasy. AI evolves through emergent properties that defy prediction, yet Brussels continues to draft rules with an industrial, linear mindset.
Governing Hyperobjects: The New Economics of AI Regulation
Artificial intelligence is not simply a hard regulatory problem, but a fundamentally different kind of object – a hyperobject. Like global warming or the internet, AI operates at scales of space, time, and complexity that exceed…
On Simple Competition Policy
These remarks address the topic of “simple competition policy for a complex world”. There is much to be said in favor of simplicity in legal rules.
The Growing Complexity of Digital Economies over the GenAI Waterfall: Challenges and Policy Implications
Volker Stocker and William Lehr
The GenAI genie is out of the bottle. AI, and its vanguard GenAI, is a change agent that profoundly impacts the global transition to a digital economy.
2024
Introducing the “Scaling Theory” podcast
Network Law Review
The Network Law Review is proud to support the “Scaling Theory” podcast created by Dr. Thibault Schrepel, LL.M. and available on your favorite platforms (Spotify, Apple, YouTube).
Privacy or Antitrust First? Answering with Agent-Based Modeling
Legal scholars have long been interested in predicting the effects of new rules and standards. They have focused very little on the timing of regulation.
Toward A Working Theory of Ecosystems in Antitrust Law: The Role of Complexity Science
Antitrust agencies are getting increasingly interested in understanding digital ecosystems. As someone who has long advocated for examining ecosystems in antitrust (ah, Ph.D. days...), I can only welcome this development.
A Networks-of-Networks Perspective on AI Policy
This contribution suggests that the regulatory efforts in the field of AI can benefit from a Networks-of-Networks perspective. Networks-of-Networks is a cutting-edge subfield in the domain of complexity and network theory, which…
2023
Complexity Science for Antitrust Lawyers
This short article serves as an introduction to Thibault Schrepel’s latest working paper, “Being an Arthurian: Complexity Economics, Law, and Science” (open-access)…
Some Background to Complexity Economics
Brian Arthur: I’m delighted to be here, even if it is pretty early in the morning here in California. What I want to tell you is my version of what I think complexity economics is about.
Navigating the Death of Competition: The Emergence of Business Ecosystems and Beyond
In my years as a management advisor and consultant, I have been privy to the operations of senior executive teams facing new realities. This experience is invariably marked by persistent strategic uncertainty.
Adjusting to Change in Complex Systems
Drew Fudenberg and David K. Levine
While driving a car, you hear a large bang, the car no longer accelerates properly, and the engine makes loud noises. You are not an automobile mechanic and do not know how engines work, but you are aware of some basic facts…
A Conversation with Vernon Smith on Complexity Theory, Adam Smith, Web3, and More
The following transcript has been lightly edited.
2022
Near-Decomposability as A Regenerative Process in Complex Social Phenomena
In complex systems, particularly when we study scalability, we address phenomena from “cells to societies”. The cell is an “ecology” of information (DNA) and chemical substances (also DNA) that self-organize in a biological…
Complexity-Minded Antitrust
Nicolas Petit and I are delighted to present you with our newest article, “Complexity-Minded Antitrust”. Here is the abstract: Complexity science is widely used across the policy spectrum but not in antitrust.
2020
A dialogue between Darwin and a blockchain
One day, Darwin encountered a young public permissionless blockchain. Here is the transcript of their conversation (all Darwin’s quotes are directly taken from his book, “On the Origin of Species”)…