Institutions and Evolution of Capitalism

Edited by Francesca Gagliardi, University of Hertfordshire and David Gindis, University of Warwick, UK

'We are in an era when fundamental debates about the nature of the economy and economics are not mere academic curiosities but an urgent necessity for society. Long-dominant theories have crumbled and major challenges loom. Bold new thinking is required and few have been bolder than Geoffrey Hodgson. This volume, by a distinguished group of scholars, gives new insights into Hodgson's decades-long body of work and will surely spark new ideas and debate. The economy is an evolutionary system and someday future historians will say ''Hodgson was right.'''--Eric Beinhocker, University of Oxford, UK and author of The Origin of Wealth'This impressive collection is a fitting tribute to Geoff Hodgson, with substantial contributions from senior colleagues covering the many areas in economics in which he has worked over the course of a long and successful career.'--Jochen Runde, University of Cambridge, UK'Geoffrey Hodgson has for some time been one of the most creative and provocative writers arguing for a more evolutionary economics that paid more attention to the institutions driving and molding economic change. This collection of essays in his honor is of broad scope and high quality. They provide a pleasurable, informative read.'--Richard R. Nelson, Columbia University, US

• Contents:PART I INTRODUCTION1 Institutions and evolution of capitalism in Geoff Hodgson’swork 2Francesca Gagliardi and David GindisPART II FOUNDATIONS2 Geoff Hodgson on pluralism and historical specificity 14Sheila C. Dow3 Mathematical modelling in economics: seeking a rationale 29Tony Lawson4 Dissembling nature, elusive economy 44Philip Mirowski5 The rest of the resume: Veblen’s teaching and service activities 62Charles Camic6 Hodgson, cumulative causation and reflexive economic agents 78John B. DavisPART III INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS7 Bridging Original and New Institutional Economics? 93John Groenewegen8 Dimensionalizing institutions 110Claude Ménard9 Juridical ontology and the theory of the firm 127Simon Deakin10 The corporation is not a nexus of contracts: it’s an iPhone 142Richard N. Langlois11 Property, possession and knowledge 157Ugo Pagano12 Near misses – a capitalist aborted take-off and a no-show: theUnited Provinces and Ming China 178Andrew Tylecote13 Institutions are neither autistic maximizers nor flocks of birds:self-organization, power and learning in human organizations 194Giovanni Dosi, Luigi Marengo and Alessandro NuvolariPART IV EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS14 Industry and Trade : Marshall’s magnificent dynamics 215J. Stanley Metcalfe15 Generalized Darwinism, the nature of selection and marketefficiency231J.W. Stoelhorst16 Cultural evolution, group selection and downward causation 250Viktor J. Vanberg17 Generalized Darwinism, routines and morality 264Jack Vromen18 The ubiquity of habits and routines and their contribution tomanagement theory 282Markus C. Becker19 The role of selection processes in organizational evolution 299Thorbjørn Knudsen20 Why is evolutionary economics not an empirical science? 314Kurt Dopfer and Jason PottsPART V GEOFF HODGSON ON GEOFF HODGSON21 A conversation with Geoff Hodgson 328Francesca Gagliardi, David Gindis and Geoffrey M. HodgsonIndex 353