Hardback
Is Economics an Evolutionary Science?
The Legacy of Thorstein Veblen
9781840641950 Edward Elgar Publishing
Thorstein Veblen has made an immeasurable impact on the development of economics. His legacy has been to challenge orthodox thinking and inspire the institutionalist and evolutionary school of thought. In this book, a distinguished group of contributors analyses the impact, a century later, of Veblen’s 1898 challenge to economics.
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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
Thorstein Veblen has made an immeasurable impact on the development of economics. His legacy has been to challenge orthodox thinking and inspire the institutionalist and evolutionary school of thought. In this book, a distinguished group of contributors analyses the impact, a century later, of Veblen’s 1898 challenge to economics.
The authors examine the contribution of Veblen and some of his disciples to heterodox economics. They also reassess other contemporaneous discussions and contributions by other authors – Mitchell, Ayres, Commons, Keynes, Schumpeter, Tinbergen, Frisch – and present an overview of the state of the art in evolutionary economics.
The authors examine the contribution of Veblen and some of his disciples to heterodox economics. They also reassess other contemporaneous discussions and contributions by other authors – Mitchell, Ayres, Commons, Keynes, Schumpeter, Tinbergen, Frisch – and present an overview of the state of the art in evolutionary economics.
Critical Acclaim
‘This interesting and stimulating volume will help to keep the explication of the Veblenian legacy on the agenda. It contains some excellent essays and offers much food for thought.’
– Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology
‘. . . there is much in this volume that is informative and on occasion stimulating, especially for those who have limited familiarity with institutional economics and its development . . . the book contains some important essays that may advance the cause of study of institutional economics.’
– Ray Petridis, Journal of the History of Economic Thought
‘This impressive collection demonstrates the vibrant prospects of an evolutionary economics but also its problems. Both the strength and the limitations of Veblen’s original forays are made clear. The strength of the collection resides in its treatments of important specific areas, such as the firm, rationality, the role and limits of knowledge, the diversity of economic institutions, nonlinear relationships, the relation of institutions to technical processes, the nature of an evolutionary economics, and capitalism as a system. Also impressive is the array of contributors, several new to the topic.’
– Warren J. Samuels, Michigan State University, US
– Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology
‘. . . there is much in this volume that is informative and on occasion stimulating, especially for those who have limited familiarity with institutional economics and its development . . . the book contains some important essays that may advance the cause of study of institutional economics.’
– Ray Petridis, Journal of the History of Economic Thought
‘This impressive collection demonstrates the vibrant prospects of an evolutionary economics but also its problems. Both the strength and the limitations of Veblen’s original forays are made clear. The strength of the collection resides in its treatments of important specific areas, such as the firm, rationality, the role and limits of knowledge, the diversity of economic institutions, nonlinear relationships, the relation of institutions to technical processes, the nature of an evolutionary economics, and capitalism as a system. Also impressive is the array of contributors, several new to the topic.’
– Warren J. Samuels, Michigan State University, US
Contributors
Contributors: L. Bazzoli, M. Crocco, A.W. Dyer, F. Hahn, A. Jolink, F. Louçã, A. Mayhew, J.S. Metcalfe, P.A. O’Hara, E. Özveren, U. Pagano, M. Perlman, J.B. Stanfield, J.R. Stanfield
Contents
Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: Veblen’s Challenge 2. Mind-sets, and Why Veblen was Ineffectual 3. How can Economics be an Institutional-Evolutionary Science? 4. Thorstein Veblen and the Political Economy of the Ordinary 5. Veblen and Theories of the ‘Firm’ 6. Institutional Economics and the Specificity of Social Evolution 7. The Significance of Clarence Ayres and the Texas School 8. Bounded Rationality, Institutionalism and the Diversity of Economic Institutions 9. Is Economics an Evolutionary Science? Part II: The Challenged Reconsidered 10. The Travelling Salesman Returns from the War 11. Is Capitalism Doomed? 12. An Institutionalist Foundation for Development Studies 13. The Future’s Unknowability Part III: Perspectives 14. Instituted Economic Processes, Increasing Returns and Endogenous Growth Index