Understanding Economic Change
Advances in Evolutionary Economics

Shows how thinking in evolutionary terms enhances our understanding of the economic and social change taking place at all levels.

Ulrich Witt (Edited by), Andreas Chai (Edited by)

9781316501757, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 August 2022

410 pages, 11 b/w illus. 9 tables
22.8 x 15.1 x 2 cm, 0.57 kg

'More than one century after Thorsten Veblen coined the label evolutionary economics there is still no consensus on what constitutes the core of an evolutionary approach in economics. This volume will be welcome by readers interested in learning about the current state of the field and its prospective development. The essays collected represent the principal versions of evolutionary thinking in contemporary economics, covering methodological, theoretical and normative issues. The editors' Introduction provides helpful guidance in tracing the history of the field, placing the collected essays into a broader context and pointing to prospects for theoretical convergence and integration.' Viktor J. Vanberg, University of Freiburg, Germany

Although the economy has always been changing, ever more innovations now seem to accelerate the transformation process. Are there any laws governing the incessant global change? Does it accord with our intentions and desires and make us happier? Do our institutions and our democracies cope with the challenges? How does economic theory explain what is going on? In this volume, experts in the field discuss the advances that evolutionary economics has made in exploring questions like these. The broad range of topics include a review of the development of the field: its conceptual and methodological characteristics are outlined; problems posed by macroeconomic evolution and the institutional challenges are highlighted; and, last but not least, the implications of the evolution of the economy for wellbeing and sustainability are addressed. Taken together, the contributions demonstrate the potential of an evolutionary paradigm for making sense of economic change and for assessing its consequences.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Evolutionary economics: taking stock of its progress and emerging challenges Ulrich Witt and Andreas Chai
Part II. Conceptual and Methodological Problems: 2. Missed connections and opportunities foregone: a counterfactual history of twentieth century economics Brian J. Loasby
3. Science, technology, and knowledge: what historians can learn from an evolutionary approach Joel Mokyr
4. Generalized Darwinism in evolutionary economics: the devil is in the details Jack Vromen
Part III. Perspectives on Evolutionary Macroeconomics: 5. Macroeconomic evolution: long run development and short run policies Richard H. Day
6. Evolutionary micro-founded technical change and the Kaldor-Verdoorn law: estimates from an artificial world André Lorentz
Part IV. Advances in Explaining and Assessing Institutional Evolution: 7. Democracy, rationality and religion Dennis C. Mueller
8. On the evolution of organizational governance: divided governance and survival in the long run Roger D. Congleton
9. Strategic interaction and externalities: FD-games and pollution Reinoud Joosten
10. Fairness in urban land use: an evolutionary contribution to law and economics Christian Schubert
Part V. Evolutionary Perspectives on Welfare and Sustainability: 11. As innovations drive economic change, do they also improve our welfare? Martin Binder and Ulrich Witt
12. Sustainable consumption patterns and the malleability of consumer preferences: an evolutionary perspective Andreas Chai.

Subject Areas: Entrepreneurship [KJH], Economic history [KCZ], Political economy [KCP], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Economic growth [KCG], Macroeconomics [KCB]