Institutions and Progress

John Metcalfe

Industrial and Corporate Change, 2001, vol. 10, issue 3, 561-86

Abstract: An insistent theme in Richard Nelson's work is that of "capitalism as an engine of progress". In this paper I explore this idea through a sequence of his writing, distinguishing progress as outcome from progress as instituted process. This leads to a deeper issue within this Nelsonian theme, namely the incompatibility between progress and equilibrium. I argue that evolving systems are ordered and coordinated but they are never in equilibrium. Capitalism is restless--it always generates change from within and the proximate source of this progressive tendency is the uneven accumulation of knowledge. Capitalism is restless because knowledge is restless. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (49)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:indcch:v:10:y:2001:i:3:p:561-86

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Industrial and Corporate Change is currently edited by Josef Chytry

More articles in Industrial and Corporate Change from Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().