Vicky Chuqiao Yang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6111-3699 vcyang@mit.edu, James Holehouse jamesholehouse1@gmail.com, Hyejin Youn https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6190-4412, +3 , and Christopher P. Kempes https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1622-9761Authors Info & Affiliations

Edited by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; received April 21, 2025; accepted January 8, 2026

Scaling laws for function diversity and specialization across socioeconomic and biological complex systems
Vicky Chuqiao Yang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6111-3699 vcyang@mit.edu, James Holehouse jamesholehouse1@gmail.com, Hyejin Youn https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6190-4412, +3 , and Christopher P. Kempes https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1622-9761Authors Info & Affiliations
Edited by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; received April 21, 2025; accepted January 8, 2026

Scaling laws for function diversity and specialization across socioeconomic and biological complex systems | PNAS

Significance

Diversification and specialization are central to complex adaptive systems, yet overarching principles across domains remain elusive. We introduce a general theory that unifies diversity and specialization across disparate systems, including microbes, federal agencies, companies, universities, and cities, characterized by two key parameters. We show from extensive data that function diversity scales with system size as a sublinear power law-resembling Heaps’ law-in all but cities, where it is logarithmic. Our theory explains both behaviors and suggests that function creation depends on system goals and structure: federal agencies tend to ensure functional coverage; cities slow new function growth as old ones expand, and cells occupy an intermediate position. Once functions are introduced, their growth follows a remarkably universal pattern across all systems.

Abstract

Function diversity, the range of tasks individuals perform, and specialization, the distribution of function abundances, are fundamental to complex adaptive systems. In the absence of overarching principles, these properties have appeared domain-specific. Here, we introduce an empirical framework and a mathematical model for the diversification and specialization of functions across disparate systems, including bacteria, federal agencies, universities, corporations, and cities. We find that the number of functions grows sublinearly with system size, with exponents from 0.35 to 0.57, consistent with Heaps’ law. In contrast, cities exhibit logarithmic scaling. To explain these empirical findings, we generalize the Yule-Simon model by introducing two key parameters: a diversification parameter that characterizes how existing functions inhibit the creation of new ones and a specialization parameter that describes how a function’s attractiveness depends on its abundance. Our model enables cross-system comparisons, from microorganisms to metropolitan areas. The analysis suggests that what drives the creation of new functions depends on the system’s goals and structure: federal agencies tend to ensure comprehensive coverage of necessary functions; cities tend to slow the creation of new occupations as existing ones expand; and cells occupy an intermediate position. Once functions are introduced, their growth follows a remarkably universal pattern across all systems.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2509729123

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From cells to companies: Study shows how diversity scales within complex systems

https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/new-study-helps-explain-how-complex-systems-grow