A Veblenian Critique of Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory

Tae-Hee Jo ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: It is often argued that Richard Nelson and Sydney Winter’s evolutionary theory is an alternative to neoclassical economics and is compatible with or complementary to Veblenian evolutionary economics. This paper subjects such arguments to critical examination. I argue that while Nelson and Winter’s theory provides a more realistic account of the firm behavior than Marshallian-neoclassical theory does, it is a neoclassical evolutionary theory in much the same sense as Marshall’s economics is quasi-evolutionary, ‘neo-classical’ economics according to Veblen. Therefore, Nelson and Winter’s evolutionary theory is in fact a protective modification of neoclassical economics and is antithetical to Veblen’s evolutionary economics.

Keywords: Thorstein Veblen; Richard Nelson; Sydney Winter; Evolutionary Theory; Institution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B15 B25 B52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06-26
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-his, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-pke
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Journal Article: A Veblenian Critique of Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:101380

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