A (reactive) lattice-gas approach to economic cycles

A microscopic approach to macroeconomic features is intended. A model for macroeconomic behavior under heterogeneous spatial economic conditions is reviewed. A birth–death lattice gas model taking into account the influence of an economic environment on the fitness and concentration evolution of economic entities is numerically and analytically examined. The reaction–diffusion model can also be mapped onto a high-order logistic map. The role of the selection pressure along various dynamics with entity diffusion on a square symmetry lattice has been studied by Monte–Carlo simulation. The model leads to a sort of phase transition for the fitness gap as a function of the selection pressure and to cycles. The control parameter is a (scalar) “business plan”. The business plan(s) allows for spin-offs or merging and enterprise survival evolution law(s), whence bifurcations, cycles and chaotic behavior.