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

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Author Info
Geoffrey Hodgson ()
Thorbjørn Knudsen

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Abstract

This paper pursues a research agenda inspired by Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter’s 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. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2004

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00191-004-0192-1
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal Journal of Evolutionary Economics.

Volume (Year): 14 (2004)
Issue (Month): 3 (07)
Pages: 281-307
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Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:14:y:2004:i:3:p:281-307

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Related research
Keywords: Firms Evolutionary economics Knowledge Habits Routines Replicator Interactor

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  1. Christian Cordes, 2004. "Darwinism in Economics: From Analogy to Continuity," Papers on Econonmics and Evolution 2004-15, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.
    Other versions:
  2. G. Buenstorf, 2005. "How Useful Is Universal Darwinism as a Framework to Study Competition and Industrial Evolution?," Papers on Econonmics and Evolution 2005-02, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.
  3. Werner Hölzl, 2005. "The evolutionary theory of the firm: Routines, complexity and change," Working Papers geewp46, Vienna University of Economics and B.A. Research Group: Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness. [Downloadable!]
  4. Jack Vromen, 2008. "Ontological issues in evolutionary economics: The debate between Generalized Darwinism and the Continuity Hypothesis," Papers on Econonmics and Evolution 2008-05, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group. [Downloadable!]
  5. G. Hodgson & T. Knudsen, 2004. "The Nature and Units of Social Selection," Papers on Econonmics and Evolution 2004-24, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.
    Other versions:
  6. G. Buenstorf, 2006. "Comparative Industrial Evolution and the Quest for an Evolutionary Theory of Market Dynamics," Papers on Econonmics and Evolution 2006-23, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group. [Downloadable!]
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