Frischmann Brett M, Ramello Giovanni B
Department of Business and Economics, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, United States.
Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Front Res Metr Anal. 2023 Jan 11;7:1111446. doi: 10.3389/frma.2022.1111446. eCollection 2022.
Do externalities work and matter differently in a world of scarcity vs. a world of abundance? In this article, we critically examine the economic phenomena of externalities. The concept of externality, an important idea in economics and law, is useful in exploring the complex and dynamic relationships between resource supply and human flourishing within various sociotechnical systems.
First, we define the basic concept and explain why it is fundamental to economic analysis of complex social environments Second, we briefly survey the intellectual history of externalities with the goal of tying together a few different strands of economic theory and providing a roadmap for a general theory of externalities. This discussion highlights a latent conflict between those who pursue and those who resist perfectibility (optimization) of social systems by internalizing externalities. Third, we compare externalities in worlds of scarcity and abundance.
This article develops the theoretical framework, including a brief intellectual history and notes toward the development of a general theory of externalities. As a conceptual tool, externalities enable one to identify and examine social interdependencies and to map their causes and consequences. Externalities provide evidence of social demand for governance institutions. This descriptive utility can and should inform normative analysis, the design of governance institutions, and comparative institutional analysis. We also raise a series of (mostly empirical) questions that should frame comparative institutional analysis and evaluation of different externalities in the digital networked world.
We focus on the scarcity and abundance of knowledge resources and the (technological) means for participating in the production, dissemination, and modification of such resources. In the real, necessarily imperfect world where abundance and scarcity vary across resources, people, and contexts, externalities persist, indicate social demand for governance, and inform comparative analysis and design of governance institutions.
D62, B52, D02.
外部性在稀缺世界与富足世界中的作用和影响是否不同？在本文中，我们批判性地审视了外部性这一经济现象。外部性概念是经济学和法学中的一个重要理念，有助于探索各种社会技术系统中资源供应与人类福祉之间复杂多变的关系。
首先，我们界定基本概念，并解释其为何对于复杂社会环境的经济分析至关重要。其次，我们简要回顾外部性的思想史，目的是将几条不同的经济理论线索整合起来，并为外部性的一般理论提供路线图。这一讨论凸显了那些通过内化外部性来追求社会系统完美（优化）的人与那些抵制者之间潜在的冲突。第三，我们比较稀缺世界和富足世界中的外部性。
本文构建了理论框架，包括简要的思想史以及对外部性一般理论发展的注释。作为一种概念工具，外部性能使人们识别和审视社会相互依存关系，并梳理其因果。外部性为治理制度的社会需求提供了证据。这种描述性效用能够且应该为规范分析、治理制度设计和比较制度分析提供参考。我们还提出了一系列（大多为实证性的）问题，这些问题应构成数字网络世界中比较制度分析和不同外部性评估的框架。
我们关注知识资源的稀缺与富足，以及参与此类资源生产、传播和修改的（技术）手段。在现实的、必然不完美的世界中，资源、人群和环境的富足与稀缺各不相同，外部性持续存在，表明社会对治理的需求，并为治理制度的比较分析和设计提供参考。
JEL分类：D62、B52、D02
