The Cultural and Health Implications of Economic Complementarity

Frederic B. Jennings

Journal of Economic Issues, 2015, vol. 49, issue 2, 591-599

Abstract: Human relations involve a balance of substitution and complementarity. In economics, substitution is stressed and complementarity ignored. An economics of substitution will lead to competitive fragmentation. An economics of complementarity supports a case for cooperation and organizational health. If complementarity outweighs substitution, what are the implications? A shift to common needs enters new realms of social design. If wellbeing is social — if our benefits are aligned — the lack of conflict invites community. Here, competitive values cause strife and harm. In this paper, I depict the culture of complementarity in economics. I offer a key to achieving community, replacing substitution with complementarity in our basic assumptions. To move beyond a myopic culture resulting from competition, we need an economics of complementarity.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2015.1042807

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