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Neoclassical economics has established itself as the discipline of rational choice. Consequently, under methodological individualism and in the context of consumption, an agent's choice is based on the ordering of preferences determined exogenously, disregarding any emotional, biological influences, or factors from socio-economic dynamics. Therefore, this paper aims to present an alternative framework for the decision-making of economic individuals at a theoretical and formal-mathematical level, grounded in the principles of evolutionary economics and complex adaptive systems. It is argued that the process of making choices in consumption is inherent to social dynamics. From an individual-holistic perspective, the mechanism motivating action can be characterized as an evolutionary algorithm that integrates biological, historical, cultural, social class, and market competition influences as endogenous elements in determining choice and consumption behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the final decades of the 20th century, territorial political economy was influenced by both urban and regional economy. The first called attention to the "triumph of the cities" and the second to the importance of consolidating "a new regionalism." Over the course of the 21st century, on the other hand, urban and regional economies have been conceptually articulated as a result of the "metropolitan revolution." The central objective of this article is to reflect on the characteristics of this process, the possible impacts and the great challenges. To conclude, this paper suggests that regional cohesion is determined by a functional polycentric territorial structure, a productive and sustainable economy and a multilevel and multi-scale governance model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to develop a benchmark method to identify best practices in higher education across the country, in relation with management practices of academic productivity gender gaps and their impact on family responsibilities. This paper uses a qualitative approach to collect relevant information from official web pages from sixteen international universities previously selected. All information related to best practices policies implemented in each university was charted and assigned to one of the following categories for further analysis: ranking, gender policies, gender gaps, academic productivity, and childcare responsibilities. Results from this study revealed that the main best practices implemented in the included universities were practices related to harassment prevention, gender equality at college admission, development of protocols, leadership training, scholarships for study and research programs, adequate infrastructure, childcare financial support, flexible work schedules, family leave policies, improvement of the work environment and the development of departments in charge of follow-up and regular assessment of the proposed strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]