Stylized facts and multiple realizability in econophysics

Stylized facts are persistent macro-regularities which cannot be described in terms of microeconomic theory. Through the argument of multiple realizability, this methodological paper claims that a top down agent-based econophysics can contribute to a better understanding of complex economic systems in two ways: on the one hand, it clarifies the gap between micro and macro scales by proving an algorithmic derivability of the latter; and on the other hand, this modelling provides microfoundations (and then potentially an economic meaning) to macro-patterns usually identified in the observation of these complex systems. (C) 2014 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.