From DNA to economics: Analogy in econobiology

The last economic crisis generated a lot of debated and questions about the ability of economists to deal with economic complexity. Though complexity is difficult to model and measure, several frameworks (biology, statistical physics etc.) recently emerged to deal with this kind of environment. In this challenging context for the economic theory, can economic theory benefit from these new advances in the other fields like physics or biology? One can observe new modelling practices with the emergence of new fields such as econophysics or econobiology. The objective of this article is to offer a reflexive perspective on the latter. Extending biological reasoning to economic\financial sphere implies an implicit analogy between the two fields. This article aims at clarifying the kind of analogies that justifies the gradual emergence of econobiology.