Economic Boundary Science: Formation, Evolution, and Reshaping of Market, Corporate, National, and Institutional Boundaries

Traditional economic frameworks often treat structural entities—such as firms, markets, industries, and nation-states—as static, pre-given analytical containers. However, the rapid advancement of digital technology, the rise of global platform ecosystems, and recent geopolitical realignments have profoundly deconstructed and reshaped these conventional borders. This paper systematically establishes "Economic Boundary Science" as a novel paradigm to investigate how boundaries between markets, firms, countries, industries, and institutions are formed, shifted, dissolved, and redefined. Drawing upon transaction cost economics, property rights theory, evolutionary economics, and spatial network theory, we conceptualize economic boundaries as dynamic, non-continuous friction bands where marginal resource-allocation costs undergo structural jumps.

By constructing a dynamic cost-benefit equilibrium model expressed in pure textual mathematical abstractions, we demonstrate that optimal boundary positions are determined by the intersection of internal management costs and cross-boundary transaction costs. Our model highlights how technological innovations reduce boundary friction coefficients—driving organizational outsourcing, cross-industry convergence, and economic integration—while geopolitical risks, regulatory mandates, and institutional divergence elevate friction coefficients, prompting re-bordering and structural fragmentation. Furthermore, we apply this theoretical perspective to pressing contemporary issues, including anti-monopoly regulation for digital platforms that cross market bounds, and the strategic balancing between national economic security and global supply chain resilience. Ultimately, Economic Boundary Science offers a holistic, adaptive theoretical foundation for understanding the ongoing restructuring of the global economic architecture.