The pigeon breeders' cup: a selection on selection theory of economic evolution

Both the evolutionary literature in economics and the competitive advantage literature in business strategy point to the importance of a firm's replication/selection mechanisms in developing and sustaining inimitable organization capabilities, competencies, competitive advantage and economic rents. This mechanism can be conceived of as a hierarchy of organization processes where primary, added-value processes are nested within control processes, which are nested within deployment processes, that are nested within learning processes. The evolution of this organization of processes and their complementary assets along the added-value chain within the firm and among firms is the result of the legacy of the past process-thinking skills of the firms in the added-value chain and their present thinking skills. Served and factor markets select on the dynamic effects and products of these processes and, hence, ultimately on the phenomenon that create the processes (process thinking). This selection on selection (SoS) theory is used to explain Schumpeterian ?creative destruction? at a new level of analysis, extend the satisficing principle, and identify a new stream of potentially promising empirical research.JEL Classification: A1, B31, B52, D21, M1Comments by Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Alan J. Malter, Paul W. Miniard, Paul W. Farris, and an anonymous reviewer on earlier drafts of this paper are gratefully acknowledged. The editing of Kathryn Morris is also appreciated.     

制度系统的性质及其对于演化的影响

本文分析制度系统的关联性质———可分离性、非分离性和准分离性 ,演化的帕累托 非帕累托性质 ,以及认知正误对其演化方式和绩效的影响 :(1 )若制度系统具有演化的帕累托性质和不存在认知失误 ,则可分离制度系统将具有演化的时序无关性 ;非分离制度系统如果是强耦合关系 ,就必须实行全局共时的演化 ,即突变式演化 ;若是弱耦合关系 ,就可以实行全局历时的演化 ,即渐进式演化。 (2 )制度系统演化的非帕累托性质使得其演化成功的概率取决于演化的方式和拥护演化的群体联盟与反对演化的群体联盟之间的力量对比。 (3 )存在两种认知失误 :对于制度演化的帕累托 非帕累托性质的认知失误和对于其关联性特征的认知失误。前者涉及制度系统演化的目标模式的选择 ,后者既涉及制度系统演化的目标模式的选择 ,也涉及演化的方式和步骤的选择 ,两者同时影响制度系统演化的绩效。     

Knowledge codification and technological innovation success: Empirical evidence from Spanish biotech companies

This paper analyzes the influence of knowledge codification on technological innovation in a sample of Spanish firms from the biotechnology sector. It tests how codification affects firms' development of incremental and radical innovations and their attempts to keep their investments exclusive by building barriers to imitation and to substitution. The work also considers the incorporation of legal protection measures. The results show, on the one hand, that knowledge codification is only beneficial for developing incremental innovations and, on the other, that firms must incorporate systems of legal protection into their codification practices if they want to keep their innovations exclusive.     

Trade and productivity: an industry perspective

We use a sample of 14 OECD countries and 15 manufacturing industries to test for the effect of trade on productivity. Endogeneity concerns are accounted for using the geographical component of trade as instrument as suggested by Frankel and Romer (Am Econ Rev 89(3):279–399, 1999). We find that trade, measured in terms of the export ratio, increases productivity, even if country-fixed effects such as the quality of institutions are controlled for, though results are less robust for imports. Estimates at the aggregate manufacturing level turn out much larger, emphasizing the role of inter-industry spillovers.

Forward induction and entry deterrence: an experiment

The Dixit (Econ J 90:95–106, 1980) hypothesis that incumbents use investment in capacity to deter potential entrants has found little empirical support. Bagwell and Ramey (J Econ 27:660–680, 1996) propose a model where, in the unique game-theoretic prediction based on forward induction or iterated elimination of weakly-dominated strategies, the incumbent does not have the strategic advantage. We conduct an experiment with games inspired by these models. In the Dixit-style game, the incumbent monopolizes the market most of the time even without the investment in capacity. In our Bagwell-and-Ramey-style game, the incumbent also tends to keep the market, in contrast to the predictions of an entrant advantage. Nevertheless, we find strong evidence that forward induction affects the behavior of most participants. The results of our games suggest that players perceive that the first mover has an advantage without having to pre-commit capacity. In our Bagwell–Ramey game, evolution and learning do not drive out this perception. We back these claims with data analysis and a theoretical framework for dynamics. Financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia and Tecnología (SEC2002-01352 and SEJ2006-11665-C02-01) and the Barcelona Economic Program of CREA and excellent research assistance by David Rodríguez are gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Aurora García Gallego and Armin Schmutzler for helpful comments.     

Corruption and public finance: an IMF perspective

Public finance should be a means whereby governments in low-income countries are able to increase economic growth and end poverty. Corruption, however, reduces tax revenue and makes public expenditure policies ineffective for achieving social objectives. The papers in this volume, which is sponsored by the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), describe how corruption makes public finance ineffective in promoting economic development.     

Persistent unemployment and co-ordination issues: an evolutionary perspective

Abstract. In this paper we look at unemployment as a phenomenon which reflects the co-ordination problems that characterize out-of-equilibrium processes of adjustment. The analysis carried out shifts the focus from structural factors to the economic process. It shows that unemployment cannot be satisfactorily explained – and policy interventions devised – by focusing only on specific characters of the technology or confining the analysis to structural factors concerning the labour market. The co-ordination mechanisms of adjustment processes rather than the fundamentals of the economy appear, in this light, as the main determinants of differences in unemployment trends in different economies; and monetary policy comes back to the center of the stage as an essential element of the working of these mechanisms. RID="*" ID="*" We thank anonymous referees for their very useful comments, and Elena Lega for the helpful support to the simulation analysis carried out. Correspondence to: J.-L. Gaffard     

哈耶克的知识观及其高等教育市场化观点评析

哈耶克所谓的高等教育市场化不仅仅意味着在高等教育领域引入市场手段和竞争机制。还意味着对高等学校系统从权力分配、管理运作到教育内容安排等全方位的再建构的思想指向。它涉及到从不同的知识观出发进而在意识形态层面与“立场”紧密相关的价值观问题、文化观问题等。如何从理论上思考和回应这一层面的问题,是我们在高等教育市场化改革大潮之下不可回避的深层次问题。     

Marx on Ricardo: an explanation of some important misunderstandings

Ricardo's theory of value and distribution is reconstructed by proceeding along the lines of Marx's critique of Ricardo. It is thus an anti-critique of Marx's reading of Ricardo. The chapter ‘On Value’ in Ricardo's Principles is shown to be a consistent and rigorous treatment of the determinants of prices of production. According to Ricardo labor-values merely serve to approximate more elaborate standards of value. Marx's criticism is shown to rest crucially on his own misinterpretation of Ricardo's definitions and presupposes his own – faulty – theory of surplus value. Therefore Ricardo's theory can – contrary to Marx's theory of surplus value – still be regarded as a fruitful complement to Sraffa's model.     

Knowledge, hierarchy and the selection of routines: an interpretative model with group interactions

The aim of this paper is to analyze the selection of routines inside an organizational structure characterized by different cognitive representations and facing hierarchical pressure leading to either truce or conflict. After a brief discussion of the role of hierarchy and the related problems of organizational practice selection in the evolutionary literature, we model the interactions between different groups within a firm trying to interfere with its coordination mechanisms in order to support their own practices. Numerical simulations highlight the different learning abilities present in various organizational set-ups and their related knowledge distribution. It is shown that networking designs are the most profitable organizational configurations because of their dynamics of learning, though they are very sensitive to the truce problem.JEL Classification: L14, L20, L22, B52, D83Correspondence to: Nathalie Lazaric     

How technological innovation affects the structure of an industry: entrepreneurship evolution in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry since 1980

Challenges faced by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, including reduced R&D productivity and the expiration of drugs that are high in demand, are recently being addressed through technological innovation. Such innovations are highly likely to change the structure and functioning of the industry. Since 2000, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have actively made strategic alliance, and technological innovations have changed the source of innovation from R&D to entrepreneurship within the industry. In this study, we identify the evolution of entrepreneurship and discuss the changes caused by technological advancements since 1980 by analysing patterns of exporting and acquiring technology data from Medtrack. Over difference period, biopharmaceutical firms have gained new knowledge and improved technology, and have implemented this newly acquired knowledge and innovation to introduce drugs to the market.     

Schumpeter and the revival of evolutionary economics: an appraisal of the literature

During the last two decades we have seen a revival of interest in the works of Joseph Schumpeter and “evolutionary” ideas in economics more generally. A professional society honouring Schumpeter's name has been founded, and linked to it we have had for more than fifteen years now a professional journal devoted to this stream of thought. However, it has been argued that, despite these developments, the link between Schumpeter's own work and the more recent contributions to evolutionary economics is in fact rather weak. This paper considers this claim. Based on an analysis of Schumpeter's contribution to economics the paper presents an overview and assessment of the more recent literature in this area. It is argued that although there are important differences between Schumpeter's work and some of the more recent contributions, there nevertheless remains a strong common core that clearly distinguishes the evolutionary stream from other approaches (such as, for instance, so-called “new growth theory”). RID="*" ID="*" Many people have contributed to this paper in various ways. Jon Hekland at the Norwegian Research Council started it all by asking me to make an overview of the contribution from “evolutionary economics” to our understanding of contemporary economies. Several people helped me on the way by supplying written material, comments and suggestions, and I am indebted to all of them. Brian Arthur, Stan Metcalfe, Keith Pavitt, Erik Reinert, Paolo Saviotti and Bart Verspagen may be particularly mentioned. A preliminary version was presented at the conference “Industrial R&D and Innovation Policy Learning – Evolutionary Perspectives and New Methods for Impact Assessment” organised by the Norwegian Research Council (“SAKI”) at Leangkollen, Asker, April 18–19.2002. I wish to thank the discussant, Tor Jakob Klette, and the participants at the conference for useful feedback. Moreover I have benefited from comments and suggestions from the editors and referees of this journal. The final responsibility is mine, however. Economic support from the Norwegian Research Council (“SAKI”) is gratefully acknowledged.     

The firm as an interactor: firms as vehicles for habits and routines

This paper pursues a research agenda inspired by Richard Nelson and Sidney Winters Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982). This seminal work applied the Darwinian concepts of variation, replication and selection to the evolution of firms. It proposed a level of evolution, replication and selection at a level higher than individuals or genes, involving the replication and selection of routines and institutions. Significantly, the applicability or otherwise of these Darwinian concepts depends on precise definitions of terms such as replication and selection. The present essay builds on previous work where the concepts of replication (Godfrey-Smith, 2000; Aunger, 2002; Hodgson, 2003b) and selection (Price, 1995; Frank, 1998; Knudsen, 2002b, 2003) have been refined. We deploy the key concepts of replicator and interactor from the modern philosophy of biology (Hull, 1981, 1988). It is shown that while habits and routines can be regarded as replicators, there is a case for regarding firms and similarly cohesive organizations as interactors. We explore some of the implications of this result and provide an important component in the construction of a multiple-level evolutionary theory, involving replicating units at several socio-economic levels.JEL Classification: B25, B52, D20, D83, L20Correspondence to: Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Malting House, 1 Burton End, West Wickham, Cambridgeshire CB1 6SD, UK     

服务创新研究脉络梳理与趋势展望——基于HistCite的知识图谱分析

从服务创新的发展阶段和发展类型两个方面,对服务创新研究进行了脉络梳理,在此基础上探讨了现有研究的不足和未来研究方向。     

Capital market trading volume: an overview and some preliminary conclusions

This paper suggests an explanation for the heavy trading volumeobserved on the US capital markets, the world's largest. Heterodoxeconomic theory puts much of this volume down to speculation.Mainstream theory tends to support this thesis, either directlyor indirectly, by giving space to the idea that trading activityis for the most part exogenous to the functioning of the capitalmarkets. The central hypothesis of this paper is that the tradingvolumes observed are an endogenous feature of the capital markets,because they are to a great extent determined by the needs ofthe institutional investors who predominate on these markets.This endogeneity of trading is posited in connection with theemergence of a new ‘core–satellite’ paradigmin institutional investment, a development that essentiallymanifests the asset-management industry's transformation froma small industry serving a few wealthy clients to a mass industryserving large sections of the population.     

The old and the new: the evolution of polymer and biomedical clusters in Ohio and Sweden

This paper examines the rapid growth of the polymer-based and biomedical clusters in Ohio and Sweden – two regions of similar size and with similar traditions undergoing similar industrial restructuring. Two issues are addressed: First, why has growth been so strong in these particular clusters, i.e., can we identify the sources of the growth and dynamics in these sectors? Second, why do these two clusters differ in Ohio and Sweden in terms of size, level and type of activity, number and composition of actors, size structure of firms and growth patterns over the last couple of decades? In particular, what is the role of public policies as well as cultural, historical, and geographic factors? Our main conclusions are (1) that there is strong path dependence in both clusters in both countries, and (2) that the key to rapid development is a high absorptive capacity combined with rapid diffusion to new potential users. Our policy discussion addresses these issues.     

Between European integration and regional autonomy: the case of Italy from an economic perspective

Italy has experienced a double political phenomenon over the last few decades: a transfer of powers to a supranational entity (the EU) and a move towards regional autonomy. This paper aims to evaluate how policy competences are attributed to and exercised by the European, national and regional institutions. It develops a set of quantitative indicators analysing the legislative production of the EU, the Italian parliament and the Italian regions in various policy areas. The main findings indicate a certain substitutability between European and national legislation and that different levels of government share competences in a larger number of sectors than suggested by the economic theory.

创意产业集群化:基于知识分工协调理论分析

创意产业集群化形成和发展的一个主要原因,是劳动分工引致的知识分工的深化和创新合作网络的扩展。为了有效解决外部知识资源的嫁接问题,获取知识分工所形成的递增报酬,创意产业集群化网络应运而生。集群化网络所拥有的社会资本优势,又促进了网络内部知识分工的深化,有效地推动了隐含经验类知识的流动与共享,减低了知识的学习成本,为成员自身知识和创新能力的积累创造了良好的环境,进而形成彼此相互演化的机制。     

Economic thoughts from an East Asian perspective: a conceptual framework of viability and development strategy

This paper attempts an analytical framework centred on the relationship between the concept of viability and choice of development strategy. On the basis of a critical review on the mainstream literature in economic development, it presents the conceptual framework with an emphasis on elaborating the dichotomy of ‘comparative advantage defying (CAD) strategy’ versus ‘comparative advantage following (CAF) strategy’. Empirical experiences of economic development in China and other East Asian economies in the contemporary era are discussed in the context of the conceptual framework.     

Transition economies and trust building: a network perspective on EU enlargement

Many transition economies are characterised by a relativelyrudimentary institutional framework. Weak legislative structuresand the absence of effective market regulation and propertyright enforcement rules diminish the chance of mutually profitablebusiness transactions and—more generally—restrictthe chances for innovation and sustainable growth. Against thisbackground, we analyse the extent to which more efficient governancemechanisms can contribute to a more favourable business environment.In doing so, we adopt a network perspective. We argue that bothin developed market economies as well as in centrally plannedeconomies much of economic exchange takes place in networks.However, the characteristics of these networks, in particularthe concept of trust, can differ significantly. This leads usto conclude that the real challenge of the process of economictransition is connected to building new economic exchange networks.In this paper, we discuss this argument and analyse how thecurrent enlargement of the EU into Eastern Europe may favourablyaffect this process of institutional change in the accessioncountries.