A bioeconomic study of numeracy and economic calculation

Systems of numerical representation and computation are crucial for the operation of modern market economies. Surprisingly, however, numerical institutions and people’s numerical abilities are usually taken as given in economic analysis. To develop a richer vision of economic agents, this article investigates the interplay of biological and economic factors in the development of systematic numerical cognition and economic calculation in human societies. In investigating the economic basis of numeracy, we emphasize that it is the relevance of economic objects to need satisfaction and their scarcity that initially makes people seek to quantify goods and to develop numerical tools. As for biological aspects, we identify the pre-numerical (iconic) quantitative capacities that we share with other species as part of our biological endowment. We then investigate the fully-fledged symbolic systems of numerical representation that are unique to humans. We examine the scope for economic exchange in societies in which agents are endowed with natural iconic means for representing set sizes but lack a conventionalized number system. We also investigate the minimal set of quantitative representations that people need to have in order to engage in monetary exchange and precise economic calculation.