Skip to main content

Symmetry Breaking

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 24 Accesses

Abstract

Symmetry breaking creates asymmetric outcomes in the symmetric environment. It is the key concept for understanding self-organized pattern formations in natural sciences as well as in economics. We explain the logic of symmetry breaking and some methodological issues, and discuss applications to urban and regional economics, international economics, growth and development, economic fluctuations, and occupational choice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Aghion, P., and P. Howitt. 1992. A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica 60: 323–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M. 2001. Towards a comparative institutional analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azariadis, C., and B. Smith. 1998. Financial intermediation and regime switching in business cycles. American Economic Review 88: 516–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benabou, R. 1993. Workings of a city: Location, education, and production. Quarterly Journal of Economics 108: 619–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, J., and B. Smith. 1997. Capital market imperfections, international credit market and nonconvergence. Journal of Economic Theory 73: 335–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burdett, K., and R. Wright. 1998. Two-sided search with non-transferable utility. Review of Economic Dynamics 1: 220–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francois, P. 1998. Gender discrimination without gender differences. Journal of Public Economics 68: 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, S. 1996. Equilibrium income inequality among identical agents. Journal of Political Economy 104: 1047–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita, M., P. Krugman, and A. Venables. 1999. The spatial economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, G., and E. Helpman. 1995. Techenology and trade. In Handbook of international economics, vol. 3, ed. G. Grossman and K. Rogoff. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krugman, P. 1987. Narrow moving bands, the Dutch Disease, and the economic consequences of Ms. Thatcher. Journal of Development Economics 27: 41–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krugman, P., and A. Venables. 1995. Globalization and inequality of nations. Quarterly Journal of Economics 110: 857–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. Jr. 1988. On the mechanics of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics 22: 3–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1991. Increasing returns, industrialization, and indeterminacy of equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics 106: 617–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1992a. Agricultural productivity, comparative advantage, and economic growth. Journal of Economic Theory 58: 317–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1992b. Custom versus fashion. CMS-EMS DP No. 1030. Evanston: Northwestern University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1995a. Complementarities and cumulative processes in models of monopolistic competition. Journal of Economic Literature 33: 701–729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1995b. Comment on Paul Krugman’s ‘complexity and emergent structure in the international economy’. In New directions in trade theory, ed. A. Deardorff, J. Levinsohn, and R. Stern. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1996. Why are there rich and poor countries? Symmetry-breaking in the world economy. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 10: 419–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1997. The 1996 Nakahara Lecture: Complementarity, instability, and multiplicity. Japanese Economic Review 48: 240–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1999a. The 1999 Fukuzawa lecture: Geography of the world economy. CMS EMS DP No. 1239. Evanston: Northwestern University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 1999b. Growing through cycles. Econometrica 67: 335–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2000. Endogenous inequality. Review of Economic Studies 67: 743–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2002. Explaining diversity: Symmetry-breaking in complementarity games. American Economic Review 92: 241–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2004a. Financial market globalization, symmetry-breaking, and endogenous inequality of nations. Econometrica 72: 853–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2004b. The good, the bad, and the ugly: An inquiry into the causes and nature of credit cycles. CMS-EMS DP No. 1391. Evanston: Northwestern University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2005. Credit traps and credit cycles. Working paper. Evanston: Northwestern University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuyama, K. 2006. The 2005 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture: Emergent class structure. International Economic Review 47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyao, T. 1978. Dynamic instability of a mixed city in the presence of neighborhood externalities. American Economic Review 68: 454–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I. 1980. From being to becoming: Time and complexity in the physical sciences. New York: W. H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schelling, T. 1978. Micromotives and macrobehaviors. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weyl, H. 1969. Symmetry. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Matsuyama, K. (2018). Symmetry Breaking. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2326

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics