Fritz Rahmeyer
A Neo-Darwinian Foundation of Evolutionary Economics. With an Application to the Theory of the Firm
Abstract:
The focus of evolutionary economics is a
process of continuous economic and organizational change. Currently
there is no agreement on the explanation of economic evolution. Rather
there are competing interpretations.
To achieve a common understanding of economic evolution, from the
perspective of the history of economic thought, at first the
theoretical approaches of Schumpeter and Marshall with regard to
economic development or evolution are dealt with. After that, a concept
of socio-economic evolution in broad agreement with evolution in nature
is elaborated. It is summed up in the version of a generalized
Darwinism. In this, evolution is seen as a process of change that leads
to the adaptation of complex systems, the result of the causal
interaction among variation, selection and retention of variety.
As a (slightly) different interpretation the presently predominating
approach of neo-Schumpeterian evolutionary economics is presented. It
has gained wide application to the theory of innovation and later -
based on Penrose - to resource-based theories of the firm. In this the
dynamic process of the creation and exploitation of resources, mainly
knowledge, turns out to be the centre of attention of an evolutionary
theory of the firm.
JEL: A12, B15, B52, D21
Paper:
Paper available as pdf-file.
Beitrag Nr. 309, Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsreihe, Institut
für
Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Augsburg
Contact:
Fritz
Rahmeyer,
University of Augsburg, Department of Economics, D-86135
Augsburg,
Germany, phone +49-821-598-4203, fax +49-821-598-4230,
E-mail: fritz.rahmeyer@wiwi.uni-augsburg.de
v.
K., 11.02.2010