We introduce a theory of return-seeking firms to study the differences between this and standard profit-maximising models. In a competitive market return-maximising firms minimise average total costs leading to output choices independent of price movements. We investigate the poten- tial for...

The International Energy Association has observed that nearly all countries now offer or are planning feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for solar PV but debate has shifted from ‘if or how to implement a FiT’ to ‘how to move to a self-sustaining market post FiT’. The aim of this paper is to explain...

The generalised Darwinism heuristic for application in evolutionary economics is evaluated. Although conceptually useful, it is found to be lacking as a basis for empirical research. Instead, the economic self-organisation heuristic is offered as a viable scientific alternative which has an...

The International Energy Agency has observed that nearly all countries now offer, or are planning, feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for solar PV but the debate has shifted from ‘if or how to implement a FiT’ to ‘how to move to a self-sustaining market post FiT’. The aim of this paper is to explain...

The behaviour of aggregate consumption is conventionally understood from the perspective of the permanent income and life cycle hypotheses. Both of these hypotheses are deduced from the theory of constrained optimization as applied to a ‘representative agent’ that consumes and saves. An...

This chapter sets out the design of a scenario framework for the CSIRO Future Grid Cluster’s Project 3. It sets out how the various influences, or driving forces, are separated into four categorised. These being: Policy, States of the World, Sensitivities, and Linkages. The first two, policy,...

The applicability of complex systems theory in economics is evaluated and compared with standard approaches to economic theorising based upon constrained optimisation. A complex system is defined in the economic context and differentiated from complex systems in physio-chemical and biological...

Building on the ontology of evolutionary realism recently proposed by Dopfer and Potts (forthcoming), we develop an analytical framework for evolutionary economics with a micro-meso-macro architecture. The motive for reconception is to make clear the highly complex and emergent nature of...

This chapter argues that evolutionary economics should be founded upon complex systems theory rather than neo-Darwinian analogies concerning natural selection, which focus on supply side considerations and competition amongst firms and technologies. It suggests that conceptions such as...

This study investigates the transformative effect of unscheduled solar PV and wind generation on electricity demand. The motivations for the study are twofold, the poor medium term predictions of electricity demand in the Australian National Electricity Market and the continued rise in peak...