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 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 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. She 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.
She is developing what she calls synecological game theory, an analytical bridge between traditional economic theory and agent-based modeling, in partnership with Richard E. Wagner.
She is also working with Roger Koppl, Stuart Kauffman, and Jim Herriott on combinatorial growth theory. Her related work is on ‘piecemeal circumnavigation,’ an original theory relating technological innovation to entrepreneurial exit and the limits of control.
She and Linan Peng have 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 January 2022).
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 an in-song 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 is revising her first novel, finishing her second, and has a third in the works. She has written hundreds of poems throughout the years, and a few dozen short stories.