Innovation Evolution And Economic Change

Explores how changing technology can influence economic systems and vice versa. This text studies the impact of innovation on inter-firm competition at the industry level; technological progress and long run growth; and the economics of the firm as it relates to adopting innovations.

This book is at the cutting edge of the ongoing ‘neo-Schumpeterian’ research program that investigates how economic growth and its fluctuation can be understood as the outcome of a historical process of economic evolution. Much of modern evolutionary economics has relied upon biological analogy, especially about natural selection. Although this is valid and useful, evolutionary economists have, increasingly, begun to build their analytical representations of economic evolution on understandings derived from complex systems science. In this book, the fact that economic systems are, necessarily, complex adaptive systems is explored, both theoretically and empirically, in a range of contexts. Throughout, there is a primary focus upon the interconnected processes of innovation and entrepreneurship, which are the ultimate sources of all economic growth. Twenty two chapters are provided by renowned experts in the related fields of evolutionary economics and the economics of innovation.

This book contains the most sustained and serious attack on mainstream, neoclassical economics in more than forty years. Nelson and Winter focus their critique on the basic question of how firms and industries change overtime. They marshal significant objections to the fundamental neoclassical assumptions of profit maximization and market equilibrium, which they find ineffective in the analysis of technological innovation and the dynamics of competition among firms. To replace these assumptions, they borrow from biology the concept of natural selection to construct a precise and detailed evolutionary theory of business behavior. They grant that films are motivated by profit and engage in search for ways of improving profits, but they do not consider them to be profit maximizing. Likewise, they emphasize the tendency for the more profitable firms to drive the less profitable ones out of business, but they do not focus their analysis on hypothetical states of industry equilibrium. The results of their new paradigm and analytical framework are impressive. Not only have they been able to develop more coherent and powerful models of competitive firm dynamics under conditions of growth and technological change, but their approach is compatible with findings in psychology and other social sciences. Finally, their work has important implications for welfare economics and for government policy toward industry.

John Kenneth Galbraith was an eminent economist and proponent of change. The contributors to the book further his analysis on the evolution of capitalism; taking into account changes to the general economic climate since the publication of J.K. Galbraith s main thesis, they outline new ideas which form fertile ground for new research. The book begins with a penetrating analysis of the main features of today s capitalism and in particular the conflict between shareholders and managers. It moves on to focus on the consequences of globalization in the decision-making processes of large corporations and represents an important step in the development of a theory of fraud and corruption within corporations. In the final part, the authors address and explore the consequences of the domination of influential groups over major social and political decisions, on the blurred boundaries between the public and the private sectors and its consequences in the fields of technological regulation and the evolution of public services. In so doing, the authors question the meaning and power of democracy in today s society. Innovation, Evolution and Economic Change will appeal to a wide readership and audience of economists, policy makers and political organization.

The book illustrates the considerable advances in modern evolutionary economics and addresses core questions of economic behaviour, interaction of heterogeneous actors in uncertain environments and the possibility of aggregating observations on a macro-economic level. It presents the foundations of economic change as the major building blocks of an economic approach that focusses on complex processes driven by endogenous innovation as well as crisis. The theoretical considerations are complemented by econometric studies to demonstrate the relevance of evolutionary-economic thinking to improve our understanding of the most challenging issues related to economic growth and development.

The central theme of this book is competition treated as an evolutionary process in which the focus is upon economic change and not economic equilibrium. This theme is explored by linking together differences in economic behaviour with the role of markets as co-ordinating institutions. In this picture innovation plays a central role as a primary source of differential behaviour of firms and the purpose of the book is to identify the consequences of these differences for competition and competitive advantage.

The pressures of global competition are affecting regions throughout the world and making it increasingly necessary to understand the complex underlying mechanisms and the potential for innovation offered by new technology. Success in economic restructuring depends not only on the technology itself, but the professional and entrepreneurial skills available and the support of provided by institutions and information networks. The very local nature these phenomena, which are critical to the innovative propensity of firms operating within the region, introduces an inevitable spatial dimension. The time therefore seems ripe to bring together contributions from scholars working in different, but related disciplines, with the aim of investigating the triangular relationship between technological change, economic development and space. The present volume offers a compact review of current theoretical developments and valuable insights deriving from recent empirical studies carried out both within Europe and elsewhere. All those contributing to this volume are actively involved in research in the field. Without their intellectual contribution and willingness to participate in this joint project, the book would not have been possible. We should like, in addition, to thank Angela Spence for her capable assistance in coordinating the various stages of preparation of the book, as well as her translation work and careful linguistic editing. Thanks also go to Paola Stasi for her meticulous copy editing and help in preparing the indices. Their work has been invaluable in moulding together in a single volume contributions from so many different sources.

Recently, evolutionary theories of economic and technological change have attracted a considerable amount of attention which reflects the problems encountered by mainstream analysis of dynamic phenomena and quantitative change. This book, originally published in 1991, develops the debate and draws on the concepts of evolutionary biology, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, systems and organization theory. While recognizing that new technology is not the cause of quantitative change, the editors claim it should play a more central role in economic theory and policy. At the same time, the ground is laid for a more generalized concept of innovation and experimentation and their relation to routine activities. The book is intended for economists.