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Interlocking complementarities and institutional change

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  • PAGANO, UGO

Abstract

In biology, the laws that regulate the structuring and change of complex organisms, characterised by interlocking complementarities, are different from those that shape the evolution of simple organisms. Only the latter share mechanisms of competitive selection of the fittest analogous to those envisaged by the standard neoclassical model in economics. The biological counterparts of protectionism, subsidies and conflicts enable complex organisms to exit from long periods of stasis and to increase their capacity to adapt efficiently to the environment. Because of their interlocking complementarities, most institutions share the laws governing the structure and change of complex organisms. We concentrate on the complementarities between technology and property rights and consider historical cases in which organisational stasis has been overcome by mechanisms different from (and sometimes acting in spite of) competitive pressure. The evolution of institutions cannot be taken for granted; but even when institutions seem frozen forever by their interlocking complementarities, their potential for change can be discovered by analysis of those interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Pagano, Ugo, 2011. "Interlocking complementarities and institutional change," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 373-392, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jinsec:v:7:y:2011:i:03:p:373-392_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Khraisha, Tamer, 2020. "Complex economic problems and fitness landscapes: Assessment and methodological perspectives," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 390-407.
    2. Liagouras, George, 2017. "Population thinking vs. essentialism in biology and evolutionary economics," OSF Preprints r4g8x, Center for Open Science.
    3. Ugo Pagano, 2012. "No institution is a free lunch: a reconstruction of Ronald Coase," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 59(2), pages 189-200, July.
    4. Dávila-Fernández, Marwil J. & Sordi, Serena, 2020. "Structural change in a growing open economy: Attitudes and institutions in Latin America and Asia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 358-385.
    5. Massimo D'Antoni & Ugo Pagano, 2021. "The institutions of the work-leisure divide," Department of Economics University of Siena 852, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    6. Landini, Fabio, 2013. "Institutional change and information production," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 257-284, September.
    7. Ugo Pagano, 2013. "Love, war and cultures: an institutional approach to human evolution," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 41-66, April.
    8. Buendía, Luis & Barredo, Juan & Balay, Juan, 2022. "Foreign sector and welfare state in Sweden: From complementarity to tensions," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 310-319.
    9. Nicita, Antonio & Pagano, Ugo, 2016. "Finance-technology complementarities: An organizational equilibria approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 43-51.
    10. Ugo Pagano, 2016. "Governance, Institutional Reforms and Modernisation of Public Sector," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 257-265.
    11. Ugo Pagano, 2013. "Technical assets and property rights," Chapters, in: Anna Grandori (ed.), Handbook of Economic Organization, chapter 18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Ugo Pagano, 2019. "Proprietà e controllo delle grandi imprese: un’interpretazione del resistibile declino italiano," Department of Economics University of Siena 798, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    13. George Liagouras, 2017. "The challenge of Evo-Devo: implications for evolutionary economists," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 795-823, September.
    14. Victor H. ROSAS-MARTINEZ, 2016. "On Behavioral Macroeconomics, Globalization, and Economic Growth," Journal of Economics Bibliography, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 482-489, September.
    15. Marwil J. Dávila-Fernández & Serena Sordi, 2019. "From open economies to attitudes towards change. Growth and institutions in Latin America and Asia," Department of Economics University of Siena 809, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    16. Samuel Bowles, 2013. "Darwin, Marx and Pagano: a comment on “Love, War, and Cultures”," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 71-81, April.
    17. repec:osf:osfxxx:r4g8x_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Jürgen Essletzbichler & Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle & Lena Gerdes & Hans-Peter Wieland & Christian Dorninger, 2023. "Geographical evolutionary political economy: linking local evolution with uneven and combined development," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 543-560.
    19. Landini, Fabio, 2012. "Technology, property rights and organizational diversity in the software industry," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 137-150.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • N60 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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