Dr. Abigail Devereaux is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Economic Growth and Assistant Professor of Economics in the W. Frank Barton Business School at Wichita State University.
Abigail has an M.A. in mathematics and a B.A. in physics, both from Boston University. She re-entered academia after seven years with Wolfram Research. Abigail earned her Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University in May 2020, winning the Israel M. Kirzner award for her “Synecological Systems Theory: An Alternative Foundation for Economic Inquiry” written under the direction of Richard E. Wagner. She was both a PhD fellow at the Mercatus Center (’16-’20), and a visiting PhD fellow at New York University’s Economics department and the Classical Liberal Institute (’18-’20).
Abigail applies complex systems theory, physics, and mathematics to economics, envisioning institutions like markets and governments as complex adaptive systems. Her academic fields and interests include: complexity economics, agent-based computational economics, growth theory, game theory, and the theory of technological innovation and entrepreneurial exit. Her publications have appeared in journals like Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Public Choice and Journal of Institutional Economics. Her articles have appeared in outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The Hill.
She is working on entangled systems theory, a theory of multiple games, in partnership with Richard E. Wagner. She believes entangled systems theory can serve as an analytical bridge between traditional economic theory and agent-based modeling. Entangled systems theory envisions societies and economics as ecologies of plans.
She is also working with Roger Koppl and Stuart Kauffman on several projects having to do with applying Kauffman’s theory of the adjacent possible (TAP) to economic systems and theory. Their latest paper in this vein is “Creative evolution in economics,” published in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics. Their book Explaining Technology, co-authored with Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Robert Ulanowicz, Jim Herriot, Brian Fath, Wim Hordjik, and Sergi Valverde was published by Cambridge University Press in the summer of 2023.
Earlier, she and Linan Peng teamed up to analyze China’s Social Credit System from a theoretical perspective. Their first paper on the Social Credit System won the 2021 Elinor Ostrom Prize.
CV
Abigail’s CV (last updated May 2024).
You can contact Dr. Abigail Devereaux at abigail.devereaux@wichita.edu
Social Media
You can find Abigail on the following social network platforms:
LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | ResearchGate
Weird Facts
When she was 17, Abigail tried out for the Boston Conservatory to jump-start her career as an operatic soprano. She didn’t get in, and within a year moved onto her new passion (physics). In her late 20s, Abigail discovered that she was a dramatic soprano, a voice part that has a famously long incubation period.
Abigail once played a solo on the baritone horn at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA.
Abigail can play the flute, guitar, violin, piano, trumpet, and baritone horn, at varying levels. These days, she sticks to piano and voice.
Abigail has been composing music since she was 13, both manually and algorithmically, and has been engaged in creating visual art in various media since she can remember.
Abigail has completed two novels, and has three more in the works. She has written hundreds of poems throughout the years, a few plays, and a few dozen short stories.