THE EVOLUTION OF EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS
| Date | 01 November 1995 |
| Published date | 01 November 1995 |
| Author | Geoffrey M. Hodgson |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1995.tb01172.x |
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THE EVOLUTION
OF
EVOLUTIONARY
ECONOMICS
Geoffrey
M.
Hodgson”
A review article addressing:
ANDERSEN, ESBEN SLOTH,
Evolutionary Economics: P ost-Schumpeterian
MAGNUSSON, LARS (ed.),
Evolutionary and Neo-Schumpeterian Appro-
VROMEN,
JACK
J.,
Evolution and Eficiency: An Inquiry into the Foundations
WI’IT,
ULRICH (ed.),
Explaining Process and Change: Approaches to Evolu-
WI’IT,
ULRICH (ed.),
Evolution in Markets and Institutions
(Heidelberg:
WI’IT,
ULRICH (ed.
),
Evolutionary Economics
(Aldershot: Edward Elgar,
Contributions
(London: Pinter,
1994).
aches to Economics
(Boston: Kluwer, 1994).
of
the ‘New Institutional Economics’
(Delft: Eburon, 1994).
tionary Economics
(AM Arbor, MI: University
of
Michigan Press, 1992).
Physica-Verlag,
1993).
1993).
I
INTRODUCTION
The volumes under review are pan
of
the current explosion in what is described
as ‘evolutionary economics’. The increasingly fashionable
use
of this and
related terms can
be
traced partly to the impact of Richard Nelson and Sidney
Winter’s classic (1982) work
An Evolutionary Theory
of
Economic Change,
although other recent developments in both orthodox and heterodox economics
are also important. By the late 1980s, work in this area had been broadened and
accelerated by the growth in both America and Europe of various institutional
and Schumpeterian approaches
to
economics.’ There have been notable and
‘The European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy and the International
Joseph Schumpeter Association were both formed in the late
1980s.
In addition
to
the six
under review, relevant books appearing since
1982
include Basalla
(1989),
Blaas and Foster
(1992),
Clark and Juma
(1987),
Delorme and Dopfer
(1994).
Dosi
er
a/.
(1988).
England
(1994).
Faber and Proops
(1990).
Foster
(1987),
Goodwin
(1990).
Gordon and Adam
(1989),
Hamilton
(1991).
Hannan and Freeman
(1989).
Hanusch
(1988),
Hayek
(1988),
Hodgson
(1988, 1993, 1994b),
Hodgson and Screpanti
(1991).
Hodgson
er
a/.
(1994).
Kay
(l982),
tanglois
(1986).
Loasby
(1991).
McKelvey
(1982).
Mokyr
(1990),
Pantzar
(1991).
Rutherford
(1994).
Saviotti and Metcalfe
(1991),
Verspagen
(1993)
and Witt
(1987).
The
Journal
of
Evolutionary Economics
commenced publication in
1991
and articles on
‘evolutionary economics’ have also appeared in the
Journal
of
Economic Issues
(published by
the US-based Association for Evolutionary Economics), the
Journal
of
Economic Behavior
and Organiration
and other journals.
*University
of
Cambridge
469
470
GEOFFREY
M.
HODGSON
fruitful applications of these ideas, particularly in the sphere of technological
change.* Evolutionary economics has already established
an
impressive research
programme and has had a major impact on economic policy, particularly in the
areas of technology policy, corporate strategy and national systems of
innovation. A substantial body of work is now clearly visible, and worthy of
reflective evaluation.
Two of the six books under review are monographs, three are collections of
recent essays, and one is
an
anthology of reprinted essays for library reference.
It is impossible to give a detailed coverage of all six volumes, particularly as it
is also necessary to refer to a number of additional and allied works. All six
books
are of a high standard and are indispensable for scholars of
this
field. In
particular, the Witt (1993b) anthology includes a very useful and impressive
collection of essays by authors from Alchian to Winter. The Andersen (1993),
Magnusson (1993) and Witt (1992) volumes contain particularly useful
conceptual discussions of the conceptual foundations of evolutionary
economics, some connecting with the issues raised
in
this review.
Taken collectively, however, the volumes under review illustrate a number of
tensions and problems. The appearance of an exponentially increasing number
of
books
and journal articles with ‘evolution’ in their title raises a number of
important questions, and some of the more important are discussed here.
This
review is thus an opportunity to take stock of what is happening in
‘evolutionary economics’ and to discuss a number of definitional and concep-
tual problems. It is also relevant to consider the possible pattern of evolution of
‘evolutionary economics’ itself and its impact on the mainstream of the subject.
It is argued that ‘evolutionary economics’ has now reached a crossroads in its
own development, and faces the possibility of both degenerative and regenera-
tive outcomes.
Three important issues are addressed in this essay. The first concerns the
confusion within the literature over the very meaning of ‘evolutionary
economics’, and in particular whether use is made or not of biological
metaphors. The second is the extent to whch such developments have and
should use various kinds of mathematical methods and modes of presen-
tation. The third is the charactensation of the divergent, strains of ‘evolu-
tionary economics’, based on fundamental ontological and methodological
assumptions.
fl
DEFINITIONS
OF
‘EVOLUTIONARY &ONOMlCS’ INSPIRED BY
BIOLOGY
In biology and elsewhere, the word ‘evolution’ is used in a confusing variety of
ways, and the term ‘evolutionary economics’ replicates this confusion
(Hodgson,
1993,
ch. 3). A key issue is whether
or
not the term is meant to imply
any similarity with the varied but predominantly Darwinian uses of the term in
biology. Apart from the definitional implications, this raises a number of
2Note
in
particular the contributions in
Dosi
er
al.
(1988)
and
Freeman
(1990).
0
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