From Cells to Societies: Regulatory Mechanisms

ANNOUNCEMENT

Welcome Reception:
Monday, June 12, 6:30pm - 8:00pm at Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta.

Group Dinner:
Tuesday, June 13, 6:30pm - 8:00pm at La Choza 

About

Regulatory functions and mechanisms are a necessary, essential, and ubiquitous feature across all biological, social, and mechanical systems and, as such, constitute a universal rule of life. Examples include regulatory genes in bacteria, managers in companies, and even the frequency of oil changes in car engines. These regulatory functions consume significant amounts of energy and resources, and in many social systems, such as universities and companies, have rapidly increased over time. Nevertheless, these costs are often hidden, overlooked, or taken for granted. In the biological sciences, one often takes the optimal regulation of physiological function as given, whereas, in the social and managerial sciences, one often falls back on case studies and stylized facts. The workshop aims to develop a unified science of regulatory functions and their associated structure. Our working group will bring researchers from economics, biology, sociology, engineering, physics, the law, and organization theory, together with practitioners from the corporate and administrative world, to ask: What are the categories of regulatory costs in genes, nervous systems, firms, cities, and nations? What are the driving factors behind regulatory costs? Can we develop science-based metrics for the appropriate or optimal size of bureaucracy or regulatory mechanisms for a given functionality or output? While these questions, and the systems they apply to, seem quite diverse, we argue that the answers can be obtained from a unifying framework focused on regulatory network architectures.