The term 'emergence' features only infrequently on the work of Friedrich Hayek, and then almost always merely as a synonym for 'spontaneous order'. The argument of this paper is that Hayek's accounts both of the working of the human mind, and also of the spontaneous order of the market, rely...

This paper aims to illustrate the benefits that accrue from critical realism's sustained, explicit reflection about ontological issues. The paper pursues this aim by examining the work of radical subjectivist Austrian economists as it has developed since the post-1974 revival in the fortunes of...

Recent developments in the methodology of economics have drawn upon pragmatist and realist philosophies of social science. These recent developments are outlined. It is argued that a specific variant of realist philosophy known as critical realism can provide the basis for a prescriptive...

The innovation systems (IS) approach — developed by Richard Nelson, Christopher Freeman and Bengt-Ake Lundvall, amongst others — has become perhaps the dominant approach in the academic literature for the study of innovation. It has also exerted considerable influence on policy. This paper...

This report examines the barriers to apprenticeship uptake in the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) sector, and how they might be overcome. Building on previous work, the report documents evidence that while ATMP employers are planning to make more use of specialist technicians as they...

Researchers in political science are devoting increasing attention to the ontological commitments of their theories – that is, to what those theories presuppose about the nature of the political world. This article focuses on a recent contribution to this ‘ontological turn' in political...

This paper compares and contrasts two schools of political economy: the Austrian School, prominent members of which include Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises; and the Bloomington School, which was founded by Elinor and Vincent Ostrom. It is argued that the two traditions share a good deal in...

This essay introduces the key themes, and papers, in an edited volume entitled, Commerce and Community: Ecologies of Social Cooperation. Since the end of the Cold War, the human face of economics has gained visibility and generated new conversations among economists and other social theorists....

This encyclopaedia entry defines what an 'apprenticeship' is and briefly outlines the virtues of apprenticeship as a means of training and a way of enabling young people to make the transition from school to work. Two broad theoretical perspectives on employers' decisions about whether or not to...