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Entropy in the Economy

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The Application of Econophysics

Summary

Based on a few simple assumptions, a derivation of the general thermodynamic behavior for an economic system is presented. The concepts of economic temperature and entropy are explained and an expression which is isomorphic with the fundamental equation of thermodynamics is obtained. As a practical application, the Pareto distribution of incomes is shown to be a consequence of assuming that a quasi-equilibrium economic system obeys a particular conservation law.

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References

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© 2004 Springer Japan

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Rawlings, P.K., Reguera, D., Reiss, H. (2004). Entropy in the Economy. In: Takayasu, H. (eds) The Application of Econophysics. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53947-6_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53947-6_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-67961-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-53947-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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