evolutionary economics

evolutionary economics, field of economics that focuses on changes over time in the processes of material provisioning (production, distribution, and consumption) and in the social institutions that surround those processes. It is closely related to, and often draws upon research in, other social sciences, such as economic sociology, economic anthropology, and international political economy. It also has important implications for many other areas of economics, including growth theory, economic development, economic history, gender economics, industrial organization, and the study of business cycles and financial crises.

Evolutionary economists often utilize concepts from evolutionary biology to explain how economic evolution occurs. Indeed, many evolutionary economists view economic evolution as a nondirected, step-by-step process that is not teleological (it lacks a specific goal or predetermined endpoint), a perspective similar to the Darwinian view of species evolution. In addition, many evolutionary economists also agree that at least some human cognitive and social predispositions are the result of genetic evolution. Examples of such predispositions include the abilities to learn a language, to learn social norms, to cooperate in groups, and to develop complex tools with which to transform nature into usable goods and services. Evolutionary economists also commonly employ analogues of concepts that Darwin relied upon but did not invent, such as inheritance, variation, and natural selection.

Whereas many mainstream economists tend to ask “how” questions, evolutionary economists tend to ask “why” questions. For example, one mainstream approach to a situation of scarcity of resources in an economy would be to determine the most efficient way of using those resources, often relying on rigorous mathematical models. Evolutionary economists, on the other hand, would consider possible solutions only in light of the historical or evolutionary path that led the economy to a situation of scarcity.

Although the study of evolutionary economics does not preclude the use of mathematical models or quantification, most of its practitioners employ qualitative and interpretive methods. Evolutionary economists are interested in examples of sociocultural evolution on a grand scale, such as the rise of agrarian empires or of modern capitalism, but they also study specific, micro-level forms of evolution, such as changes in the organizational routines of individual firms. Consequently, the kinds of issues that evolutionary economists are interested in overlap with the foci of other social sciences, such as sociology and business psychology.

Two other important concepts borrowed from the natural sciences, emergence and complexity, also play a key role in evolutionary economics. Emergence is the phenomenon whereby an observed system results from the complex interaction of the components of its subsystems. That process of interaction gives rise to patterns that cannot be predicted from or reduced to the behaviours of the individual components. However, understanding the system still requires understanding its components and their interactions. Accordingly, in the case of sociocultural evolution, it is still important to understand what individuals do and how individual choices and habits interact with social institutions in a dynamic way.