[PDF] Darwinism And Evolutionary Economics eBook

Author : John Laurent
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 17,9 MB
Release : 2001-01-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1843762943

GET BOOK

This outstanding collection of essays by leading scholars helps explain how evolutionary economics has come of age. They show how evolutionary economics offers a progressive and diverse research agenda built on strong foundations. These are essays of lasting value. J. Stanley Metcalfe, University of Manchester, UK Darwinism is fast becoming an orthodoxy of modern thought, a framework within which a wide range of knowledge communities conduct their discourse. Ever since its formation, Darwinian theory has experienced a close, though not always comfortable, association with economics. Evolutionary economists now appear to show little concern for the consistency of knowledge in their embrace of Darwinism. Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics brings together contributions from eminent authors who, building on Darwin s own insights and on developments in evolutionary theory, offer challenging views on how economics can use evolutionary ideas effectively. This collection of critical essays provides a thorough examination of the application of Darwinian theory to economic thought, and will appeal to evolutionary economists and all those with an interest in Darwin, innovation and evolutionary science.

Author : John Laurent
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 28,12 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781840642094

GET BOOK

Economists based in Australia, Europe, and the US write about evolutionary economics and its relationships with Darwinian theory. The chapters are divided into two sections, one focusing on the past and examining the influence of evolutionary ideas on economics, and the second presenting various understandings of the proper use of evolutionary theory by economics. Editor Laurent teaches the history of science and technology at Griffith U., and Nightingale teaches economics at the U. of New England, Australia. c. Book News Inc.

Author : Geoffrey M. Hodgson
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 37,88 MB
Release : 2010-12-15
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0226346927

GET BOOK

Of paramount importance to the natural sciences, the principles of Darwinism, which involve variation, inheritance, and selection, are increasingly of interest to social scientists as well. But no one has provided a truly rigorous account of how the principles apply to the evolution of human society—until now. In Darwin’s Conjecture, Geoffrey Hodgson and Thorbjørn Knudsen reveal how the British naturalist’s core concepts apply to a wide range of phenomena, including business practices, legal systems, technology, and even science itself. They also critique some prominent objections to applying Darwin to social science, arguing that ultimately Darwinism functions as a general theoretical framework for stimulating further inquiry. Social scientists who adopt a Darwinian approach, they contend, can then use it to frame and help develop new explanatory theories and predictive models. This truly pathbreaking workat long last makes the powerful conceptual tools of Darwin available to the social sciences and will be welcomed by scholars and students from a range of disciplines.

Author : Terence C. Burnham
Publisher : Universal-Publishers
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 18,60 MB
Release : 1997
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0965856429

GET BOOK

Ever since Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859, genetic evolutionary theory has increasingly served as the foundation for fields that deal with organisms that arose by natural selection. This thesis argues that economic theory should integrate with Darwinian theory through the creation of a "genetic evolutionary economics". The promise of genetic evolutionary economics is a better understanding of human nature and, consequently, a more accurate and comprehensive economic science. Economic theory rests on a set of assumptions about human nature. These economic axioms concern human genes, but there is no explicit connection between genetic evolution and economic theory. As a result, human behavior and economic predictions of that behavior diverge in a variety of important settings. Why, for example, do most people save too little for the future when economics assumes that they will save enough? Chapter 2 discusses the difficulties inherent in the standard economic approach. Natural selection theory, the chapter argues, is the best tool for refining the axioms of economics. Genetic evolutionary economics allows the derivation of parameters that are intractable with standard economic techniques. There is, for instance, an ancient debate within economics about the role of self-interest in human affairs. Chapter 3 builds a genetic evolutionary model relevant to this issue, and concludes that a Darwinian lens removes many of the apparent paradoxes. Genetic evolutionary economics is a scientific endeavor. As such, it produces specific, testable hypotheses concerning behavior in economically relevant situations. Chapter 4 reports on a theoretical and experimental investigation of gift giving. A genetic evolutionary model organizes the existing data on gift giving and makes novel, testable predictions. Laboratory experiments, performed to test the theory, confirm the evolutionary model's predictions.

Author : Geoffrey Martin Hodgson
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 13,72 MB
Release : 2014-05-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 178100756X

GET BOOK

'Almost 150 years after their major works were published Darwin and Marx stand alone as the premier theorists of the evolution of complex living systems. Hodgson's unique contribution in these essays is to capture the spirit of these two great thinkers in their ability to see universal principles in particular contextual frameworks. Using an evolutionary and institutional approach to examine a variety of theoretical issues Hodgson avoids both the postmodern disease of extreme relativism and the rigidity of insisting on "one true religion" for economic theory. This book is a major contribution to the current revolution in economic theory.' - John M. Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US Economics in the Shadows of Darwin and Marx examines the legacies of these two giants of thought for the social sciences in the twenty-first century.

Author : David Hamilton
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 13,14 MB
Release : 2017-07-05
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1351521292

GET BOOK

In reviewing this book in The Economic Journal, S.G. Checkland said that it should be read as a vigorous attempt to relate economics to general thinking and as a challenge to those who are practitioners or elaborators of narrowly prescribed techniques.

Author : Geoffrey Martin Hodgson
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 520 pages
File Size : 11,11 MB
Release : 2009
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :

GET BOOK

Discusses how Darwinism affects our conception of human nature and challenges long-standing assumptions such as self-interested behaviour. This work offers an analysis of the nature of socio-cultural evolution, its differences from biological evolution and whether it is Lamarckian.

Author : Geoffrey Martin Hodgson
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 14,65 MB
Release : 1999
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :

GET BOOK

Considers the future of economics as a viable discipline. Along with evolutionary economics, examines the development of economic theory during the 20th century, highlighting the origins and consequences of the field's narrowing and its increasing irrelevance, and suggesting that it will be inadequate to cope with the complex ideas on the horizon. Analyzes some of the attempts to redirect theoretical economics to real world issues, then proposes a move away from mathematical formalization, greater tolerance for different approaches, and learning from biology and other sciences. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Richard R. Nelson
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 14,80 MB
Release : 1985-10-15
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780674041431

GET BOOK

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.

Author : Geoffrey Martin Hodgson
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 13,10 MB
Release : 1996
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780472084234

GET BOOK

How evolutionary ideas can be used to reconstruct economics.