Involution (economics)

In socioeconomics, involution refers to excessive and self-defeating competition for limited resources and opportunities. The phenomenon has led to diminishing returns, overproduction and fierce price wars aggravating deflationary pressures,¹ and working increasingly harder for little or no marginal gain.²

Described as a process in which increasing levels of individual effort and competition fail to produce proportional gains in productivity or outcomes, resulting instead in diminishing returns and intensified internal competition. As more participants adopt similar strategies to secure limited opportunities, relative advantages disappear, creating a self-reinforcing cycle in which greater input is required merely to maintain the same position.¹