Economic Entropy Increase: A Fundamental Principle of Economic Evolution

Economic Entropy Increase: A Fundamental Principle of Economic Evolution | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Economic Entropy Increase: A Fundamental Principle of Economic Evolution Qilin guo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898533/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper introduces the Principle of Economic Entropy Increase to elucidate the fundamental mechanism of economic growth: through the expansion of scale and diversification of structure, economic systems overcome both quantitative and structural forms of scarcity. Building on the concept of economic entropy, the study develops a dual-dimensional model—scale entropy and structural entropy—to enable the quantitative assessment of entropy dynamics within economic systems. Economic entropy increase originates from the system’s intrinsic structural demands and determines the macro trajectory of institutional evolution. Accordingly, this paper is the first to propose and systematically demonstrate the core proposition that the market economy constitutes the fundamental trajectory of economic evolution. Market economies, with their superior self-organizing and adaptive capacities, embody high-entropy structures; in contrast, planned economies, constrained by “long-chain interventions” that crowd out market mechanisms, exhibit low-entropy structures and are ultimately to be superseded. This framework offers a new lens for understanding economic growth, institutional selection, and the evolution of complex systems, with significant implications for policy design and economic governance. Development Economics Macroeconomics Econometrics Economic Theory Microeconomics Behavioral Economics Economic entropy Economic entropy increase Dual scarcity Economic evolution Institutional evolution Marketization Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6898533","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":471493429,"identity":"471f4bde-8561-45b4-8627-092b30279a07","order_by":0,"name":"Qilin guo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA40lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCChAIJBvvDzAeATAsGBh6itBhIMDAcb0sAsiSI1MJgAMRnzhgQp0U+IvngjQcGFnmMM3I+Pub9ISHHz3OA8cPHHNxaDG+kJVsAHVbMLJG72ZgnQcJYsreBWXLmNjxaZuSYSQC1JLZJ5G6TBmpJ3HCegY2ZlxgtPRI5z4jTIi8B1TKD5wwbRMvZBvxaDHiegf2SuIG9zdhwThrQLz0Hm/H6Rb49+eDNHxV1iRuYmR8+eGNjAwyx5IMfPuKz5QADgwSaGGMDbvUgWxowtYyCUTAKRsEoQAUAWVxKLJt2+BwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Independent Researcher","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qilin","middleName":"","lastName":"guo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-15 13:32:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898533/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898533/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84768685,"identity":"9bb7c6ca-e795-4ee8-9bf2-d70cfd8ab16b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-17 07:39:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":566341,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EconomicEntropyIncreaseprev3x.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6898533/v1_covered_11026afa-8ea4-46a7-b681-f5360ae3be9c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEconomic Entropy Increase: A Fundamental Principle of Economic Evolution\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Economic entropy, Economic entropy increase, Dual scarcity, Economic evolution, Institutional evolution, Marketization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898533/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898533/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper introduces the Principle of Economic Entropy Increase to elucidate the fundamental mechanism of economic growth: through the expansion of scale and diversification of structure, economic systems overcome both quantitative and structural forms of scarcity. 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