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Rethinking Economic Evolution

Rethinking Economic Evolution

Essays on Economic Change and its Theory
Ulrich Witt, Director Emeritus of the Evolutionary Economics Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany and Adjunct Professor, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia
Modern economies never come to rest. From institutions to activities of production, trade, and consumption, everything is locked in processes of perpetual transformation – and so are our daily lives. Why and how do such transformations occur? What can economic theory tell us about these changes and where they might lead? Ulrich Witt’s book discusses why evolutionary concepts are necessary to answer such questions. While economic evolution is in many respects unique, it nonetheless needs to be seen within the broader context of natural evolution. By exploring this complex relationship, Rethinking Economic Evolution demonstrates the significance of an evolutionary economic theory.

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Extent: 264 pp
Hardback Price: $125.00 Web: $112.50
Publication Date: 2016
ISBN: 978 1 84844 304 4
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Modern economies never come to rest. From institutions to activities of production, trade, and consumption, everything is locked in processes of perpetual transformation – and so are our daily lives. Why and how do such transformations occur? What can economic theory tell us about these changes and where they might lead? Ulrich Witt’s book discusses why evolutionary concepts are necessary to answer such questions. While economic evolution is in many respects unique, it nonetheless needs to be seen within the broader context of natural evolution. By exploring this complex relationship, Rethinking Economic Evolution demonstrates the significance of an evolutionary economic theory.

Contents

Contents:

Introduction: The Evolutionary Way of Thinking in Economics
Ulrich Witt

PART I THE ROAD MAP FOR EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS
1 ‘Evolutionary Economics’, in Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume (eds), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008

2 ‘A “Darwinian Revolution” in Economics?’, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 152 (4), 1996, December

3 ‘On the Proper Interpretation of “Evolution” in Economics and Its Implications for Production Theory’, Journal of Economic Methodology, 11 (2), 2004,June

4 ‘What is Specific about Evolutionary Economics?’, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 18 (5), 2008, October

PART II THE ROLE OF NOVELTY FOR EVOLUTION AND EVOLUTIONARY METHODOLOGY
5 ‘How Evolutionary is Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development?’, Industry and Innovation, 9 (1/2), 2002, April/August

6 ‘Generic Features of Evolution and Its Continuity: A Transdisciplinary Perspective’, Theoria, 18 (3), 2003, 273–88

7 ‘Propositions about Novelty’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 70 (1/2), 2009, May, 311–20

8 ‘Novelty and the Bounds of Unknowledge in Economics’, Journal of Economic Methodology, 16 (4), 2009, December, 361–75

PART III EVOLUTIONARY THINKING AT WORK
9 ‘Evolutionary Economics and Psychology’, in Alan Lewis (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Chapter 20, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 493–511

10 ‘The Dynamics of Consumer Behavior and the Transition to Sustainable Consumption Patterns’, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1(1), 2011, June, 109–14

11 ‘Observational Learning, Group Selection, and Societal Evolution’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 4 (1), 2008, April, 1–24

12 ‘“Production” in Nature and Production in the Economy—Second Thoughts about Some Basic Economic Concepts’, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 16 (2), 2005, June, 165–79

13 ‘Output Dynamics, Flow Equilibria and Structural Change—A Prolegomenon to Evolutionary Macroeconomics’, with Thomas Brenner, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 18 (2), 2008, April, 249–60

14 ‘Economic Policy Making in Evolutionary Perspective’, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 13 (2), 2003, April, 77–94

Index