W. Brian Arthur — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

External Professor at Santa Fe Institute and former Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies at Stanford
Led the Santa Fe Institute group that developed complexity economics and named the approach in a 1999 Science paper
Developed theories on increasing returns and path dependence, showing how small historical events influence market evolution
Developed a broad theory of technological evolution, explaining how new technologies emerge and evolve
Credited with the invention of the El Farol Bar problem
Served on the Science Board, Board of Trustees, and Founders' Society of the Santa Fe Institute

Biography

W. Brian Arthur is an economist and complexity scientist. He is recognized for his significant contributions to the field of complexity economics, which he helped develop by leading a group at the Santa Fe Institute in the late 1980s. Arthur officially named this new approach 'complexity economics' in a 1999 Science paper.