The Application of Entropy to the Measurement of Social and Economic Freedom

Abstract

This study was inspired by the concept of entropy as applied to the measurement of the extent of information in the communication theory of Wiener and Shannon. Like its precursor, entropy in statistical mechanics, it is a convenient measure of the uncertainty or unpredictability of a system or of a process containing an element of contingency. By keeping in mind the fact that in human circles unpredictability is often allowed to pass under the sacred name of liberty, it is possible to perceive an opening for mathematics into a domain which was until now inaccessible to the mathematician. It was four years ago that we made a first attempt to enter that field in our “Essay on the Mathematical Theory of Freedom”, presented to the Royal Statistical Society of London.

Citation

Dennis and Gabor, A. (1979), "The Application of Entropy to the Measurement of Social and Economic Freedom", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 6 No. 5, pp. 415-428. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013849