Epistemic arguments play a significant role in the foundations of market liberalism as exemplified, in particular, by the work of F. A. Hayek. Competition in free markets is claimed to be the most effective device both to utilize the knowledge dispersed throughout society as well as create new...

Change manifests itself in all facets of the economy. This important collection of previously published essays illustrates how the evolutionary approach can reveal not only where change comes from, and how it happens, but also where it will lead.

Evolutionary economics is a vital, expanding field of research focusing on the incessant transformation of the economy and its driving forces. Exploring the most recent research trends in the field, this volume presents a high quality set of papers indispensable to scholars and researchers...

Modern economies are constantly evolving. How is this transformation process caused? What are its characteristics? Where will it lead us? Ulrich Witt outlines an evolutionary way of thinking about these questions. He points out that while evolution in nature is adaptation to changing...

This authoritative collection of articles presents the most significant contributions from pioneering pieces to recent research papers. It documents a broad range of problems and a variety of methods that are characteristic of the evolutionary approach. A new introductory chapter surveys the...

In the debate on why firms exist, the question of who chooses between firms and markets and on what basis is rarely addressed. This paper argues that the choice is a core element of the entrepreneurial pursuit of visions or conceptions of business opportunities. To successfully organize...

This article reviews the way of thinking about economic problems and the research agenda associated with the evolutionary approach to economics. This approach generally focuses on the processes that transform the economy from within and on their consequences for firms and industries, production,...

Evolutionary economics is a paradigm for explaining the transformation of the economy. To achieve its goal, it needs being founded on a proper theory of economic behavior. The paper discusses these foundations. It is argued that the historical malleability of economic behavior is based on the...

A distinction is often made in F. A. Hayek's oeuvre between his earlier inquiries into the theory of capital and the business cycle and his later work on social philosophy and spontaneous economic order. This paper argues that these phases are based on two different, and basically incompatible,...