‘Spillover’ is a common term in economics, and I’m using it interchangeably with externalities/‘how causes affect other causes’.
‘Spill-over’ suggests that impact can be neatly attributed to one cause or another, but in the context of complex systems (i.e. the world we live in), impact is often more accurately understood as resulting from many factors, including the interplay of a messy web of causes pursued over many decades.
Spillovers can be simple or complex; nothing in the definition says they have to be “neatly attributed”. But you’re right, long-term flow-through effects can be massive. They’re also incredibly difficult to estimate. If you’re able to improve on our ability to estimate them, using complexity theory, then more power to you.
‘Spillover’ is a common term in economics, and I’m using it interchangeably with externalities/‘how causes affect other causes’.
Spillovers can be simple or complex; nothing in the definition says they have to be “neatly attributed”. But you’re right, long-term flow-through effects can be massive. They’re also incredibly difficult to estimate. If you’re able to improve on our ability to estimate them, using complexity theory, then more power to you.