IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joevec/v26y2016i4d10.1007_s00191-015-0431-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Behavior and cognition of economic actors in evolutionary economics

Author

Listed:
  • Richard R. Nelson

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

An evolutionary perspective on the nature of economic activity requires a theory of human behavior and cognition that highlights human creativity and innovativeness, while at the same time recognizing that in many arenas of economic life change is slow and more routine aspects of behavior obtain. It is proposed that Herbert Simon’s conception of human behavior as largely “bounded rational” is capable of suiting both aspects. However, to be able to encompass the enormous advances humans have achieved over the years in their ability to meet a variety of wants, a theory of behavior and cognition suitable for evolutionary economics needs to recognize the evolving cultural context of economic behavior and cognition.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard R. Nelson, 2016. "Behavior and cognition of economic actors in evolutionary economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 737-751, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:26:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s00191-015-0431-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-015-0431-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00191-015-0431-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00191-015-0431-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Diamond & Hannu Vartiainen, 2007. "Introduction to Behavioral Economics and Its Applications," Introductory Chapters, in: Peter Diamond & Hannu Vartiainen (ed.),Behavioral Economics and Its Applications, Princeton University Press.
    2. Markus C. Becker, 2004. "Organizational routines: a review of the literature," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 13(4), pages 643-678, August.
    3. Richard Nelson & Davide Consoli, 2010. "An evolutionary theory of household consumption behavior," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 665-687, October.
    4. Richard Nelson, 2013. "Demand, supply, and their interaction on markets, as seen from the perspective of evolutionary economic theory," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 17-38, January.
    5. Winter, Sidney G., 2014. "The future of evolutionary economics: can we break out of the beachhead?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 613-644, December.
    6. Richard Nelson, 2012. "Why Schumpeter has had so little influence on today’s main line economics, and why this may be changing," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 901-916, November.
    7. Nelson, Katherine & Nelson, Richard R., 2002. "Erratum to "On the nature and evolution of human know-how" [Research Policy 31 (2002) 719-733]," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1510-1510, December.
    8. Hodgson, Geoffrey M. & Stoelhorst, J. W., 2014. "Introduction to the special issue on the future of institutional and evolutionary economics," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 513-540, December.
    9. Markus C. Becker, 2004. "Organizational routines : a review of the literature," Post-Print hal-00279010, HAL.
    10. Roberto Mazzoleni & Richard R. Nelson, 2013. "An interpretive history of challenges to neoclassical microeconomics and how they have fared," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1409-1451, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pascal Seppecher & Isabelle L Salle & Marc Lavoie, 2018. "What drives markups? Evolutionary pricing in an agent-based stock-flow consistent macroeconomic model," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(6), pages 1045-1067.
    2. Agnieszka Lipieta & Elżbieta Pliś, 2022. "Diversity and mechanisms of economic evolution," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1265-1286, September.
    3. Polowczyk Jan, 2021. "A synthesis of evolutionary and behavioural economics," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 7(3), pages 16-34, September.
    4. Klapkiv Lyubov & Ulgen Faruk, 2022. "An Evolutionary Perspective on the Endogenous Instability of Capitalist Dynamics," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 9(56), pages 291-308, January.
    5. Agnieszka Lipieta & Artur Lipieta, 2023. "Adjustment Processes Within Economic Evolution — Schumpeterian Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(3), pages 3221-3259, September.
    6. Braganza, Oliver, 2022. "Market paternalism: Do people really want to be nudged towards consumption?," ifso working paper series 23, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    7. Lipieta Agnieszka, 2018. "The role of imitative mechanisms within the economic evolution," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 4(4), pages 64-82, November.
    8. Christian Cordes, 2019. "The promises of a naturalistic approach: how cultural evolution theory can inform (evolutionary) economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1241-1262, September.
    9. Agnieszka Lipieta & Andrzej Malawski, 2021. "Eco-mechanisms within economic evolution: Schumpeterian approach," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 10(1), pages 1-31, December.
    10. repec:hal:cepnwp:hal-01486597 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Foster, John, 2021. "In search of a suitable heuristic for evolutionary economics: from generalized Darwinism to economic self-organisation," MPRA Paper 106146, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Gabriel A. Giménez Roche & Didier Calcei, 2021. "The role of demand routines in entrepreneurial judgment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 209-235, January.
    13. Frolov, Daniil, 2019. "The manifesto of post-institutionalism: institutional complexity research agenda," MPRA Paper 97662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Franco Malerba & Maureen McKelvey, 2020. "Knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurship integrating Schumpeter, evolutionary economics, and innovation systems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 503-522, February.
    15. Uwe Cantner & Bart Verspagen, 2025. "Introduction to the papers of Richard Nelson in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 169-171, April.
    16. Frolov, Daniil, 2019. "Постинституционализм: Программа Исследований За Пределами Институционального Мейнстрима [Post-institutionalism: research program beyond the institutional mainstream]," MPRA Paper 92328, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kenza Qaoumi & Pascal Masson & Benoit Weil & Aytunç Ün, 2018. "Testing evolutionary theory of household consumption behavior in the case of novelty - a product characteristics approach," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 437-460, April.
    2. Sidney G. Winter, 2016. "The place of entrepreneurship in “The Economics that Might Have Been”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 15-34, June.
    3. Uwe Cantner & Bart Verspagen, 2025. "Introduction to the papers of Richard Nelson in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 169-171, April.
    4. Giada Baldessarelli & Nathalie Lazaric & Michele Pezzoni, 2022. "Organizational routines: Evolution in the research landscape of two core communities," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1119-1154, September.
    5. Gilstrap, J. Bruce & Hart, Timothy A., 2020. "How employee behaviors effect organizational change and stability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 120-131.
    6. Bianco, Federica & Michelino, Francesca, 2010. "The role of content management systems in publishing firms," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 117-124.
    7. Gavin M Schwarz & Karin Sanders & Dave Bouckenooghe, 2020. "In the driving seat: Executive’s perceived control over environment," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 45(2), pages 317-342, May.
    8. Alex Coad, 2018. "Firm age: a survey," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-43, January.
    9. Ferry Koster & Mattijs Lambooij, 2018. "Managing Innovations: A Study of the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records in Dutch Hospitals," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(01), pages 1-23, February.
    10. Gopesh Anand & John Gray & Enno Siemsen, 2012. "Decay, Shock, and Renewal: Operational Routines and Process Entropy in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1700-1716, December.
    11. Andreas Blume & April Mitchell Franco & Paul Heidhues, 2021. "Dynamic coordination via organizational routines," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 72(4), pages 1001-1047, November.
    12. Nicholas Bloom & Christos Genakos & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2011. "Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," CEP Discussion Papers dp1109, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Muñoz, Félix-Fernando & Encinar, María-Isabel & Cañibano, Carolina, 2011. "On the role of intentionality in evolutionary economic change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 193-203, September.
    14. Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Hine, Damian & Coote, Len & Parker, Rachel, 2016. "Building a scale for dynamic learning capabilities: The role of resources, learning, competitive intent and routine patterning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4287-4303.
    15. Tae-Hee Jo, 2021. "A Veblenian Critique of Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 1101-1117, October.
    16. Luoma, Jukka, 2016. "Model-based organizational decision making: A behavioral lens," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 816-826.
    17. Guha, Mahua & Das, Gopal, 2017. "Routine contraction in good times: An example of a typical prototype development routine," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 145-152.
    18. Mickaël David & Frantz Rowe, 2015. "Enterprise Systems Contribution to Organizational Routines Evolution Potential [Le rôle des systèmes d’information d’entreprise dans l’évolutivité des routines organisationnelles]," Post-Print hal-01559512, HAL.
    19. Feim M. Blakçori, 2014. "The Role of Formal Routines in Organizational Innovation," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 4(2), pages 56-70, February.
    20. Ahrum Chang, 2022. "A formal model of street-level bureaucracy," Rationality and Society, , vol. 34(1), pages 6-27, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:26:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s00191-015-0431-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.