The multilevel economic paradigm provides an integrative framework of analysis that connects the economic, social and political domains and provides a distinctive understanding of wellbeing and progress. Whereas economic activity is modelled after machines in the neoclassical paradigm, this activity is modelled after living things (human beings) in the multilevel paradigm. People are continually adapting to their ever-changing contexts and face selection pressures both individually and as members of their social groups. Thus, people operate flexibly at multiple levels of functional organization, from individuals to groups. Agency is distributed across these levels and adapts to changing, uncertain circumstances.
Thus, the economy is “embedded” in the political, social and environmental domains. The presence of uncertainty means that resilience, robustness and adaptability become important relative to static efficiency. The recognition that people make context-dependent decisions under uncertainty means that “cogni-diversity” (perspectival and epistemic diversity within a context of shared purposes) becomes important. Wellbeing is derived not just from individual benefits, but also from participation in groups. Thus, human flourishing (encompassing both wellbeing and the generative contexts) is a multilevel phenomenon, driven not only by material goods and services, but also solidarity, agency and environmental connectedness.
These drivers of flourishing are measurable. The effectiveness of government policies and business strategies can be measured along the same lines. The policy implications of the multilevel paradigm are far-reaching, including the interrelationships between demand- and supply-side policies with solidarity- and agency-promoting policies.