Verlagstext:
The construction of an evolutionary economics is, in my view, one of the greatest scientific adventures of our time. This book brings together the leading scholars in the field to articulate what the evolutionary project in economics is all about, to provide a sense of its scope, and to lay the foundations for future research. The volume also extends a genuine invitation to participate in the exciting task of building an empirically grounded economic theory. The theoretical edifice of evolutionary economics is presently a work in progress, with some floors and some quarters much better worked out than others. But the vision of what it should look like at the end emerges clearly from this volume: it should be able to explain how modern economics came about through historically contingent processes and it should provide us with a deeper understanding of the economic challenges that lie ahead. I recommend leaving the introductory chapter for the end. Visit straight away the individual scholars' workshops, which are filled with many marvelous insights. Johann Peter Murmann, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University / 'The Evolutionary Foundations of Economics is an outstanding contribution to the development of evolutionary economics. The well edited chapters encompass the most prolific fields within evolutionary economics, ranging from complexity theory to the evolutionary theory of growth and development. Together with Kurt Dopfer's splendid introduction the book has to be considered as a guidepost in evolutionary economics, emphasizing the meso level of the economy as the decisive analytical basis in dealing with phenomena such as structure, pattern, change and development. The sixteen chapters of this volume, all written by well recognized scholars, are extremely helpful and important for understanding the functioning of modern capitalism and provide a valuable input for future research. Horst Hanusch, University of Augsburg, Secretary General of International J. A. Schumpeter Society
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Contents
List of contributors page viii
List of figures x
List of tables xiii
Prolegomenon
1 Evolutionary economics: a theoretical
framework 3
I Ontological foundations
A Evolutionary physics: a non-Cartesian bridge to
economics
2 The rediscovery of value and the opening of
economics 61
ILYA PRIGOGINE
3 Synergetics: from physics to economics 70
HERMANN HAKEN
B Evolutionary biology: the Mecca of economics
4 Darwinism, altruism and economics 89
HERBERT SIMON
5 Decomposition and growth: biological metaphors
in economics from the 1880s to the 1980s 105
G E O F F R E Y M H O D G S O N
C Evolutionary history: reconciling economic
reality with theory
6 Path dependence in economic processes: implications
for policy analysis in dynamical system contexts 151
PAUL ADAVID
7 Is there a theory of economic history? 195
JOEL MOKYR
II A framework for evolutionary analysis
A Evolutionary microeconomics
8 Towards an evolutionary theory of production 223
SIDNEY GWINTER
9 Learning in evolutionary environments 255
GIOVANNI D O S I , LUIGI MARENGO AND GIORGIO FAGIOLO
10 The evolutionary perspective on organizational
change and the theory of the firm 339
ULRICH WITT
B Evolutionary mesoeconomics
11 The self-organizational perspective on economic
evolution: a unifying paradigm 367
JOHN FOSTER
12 Evolutionary concepts in relation to evolutionary
economics 391
JSTANLEY METCALFE
13 Understanding social and economic systems as
evolutionary complex systems 431
PETER MALLEN
C Evolutionary macroeconomics
14 Perspectives on technological evolution 461
15 Evolutionary economic dynamics: persistent cycles,
disruptive technology and the trade-off between
stability and complexity 472
P I N G C H E N
16 Evolutionary theorizing on economic growth 506
GERALD SILVERBERG AND BART VERSPAGEN
Index of topics 540
Index of names 565