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Path Dependence

Author

Listed:
  • Claudius Graebner Radkowitsch

    (Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
    Department of Pluralist Economics, Europa-University Flensburg, Germany)

  • Jakob Kapeller

    (Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
    Institute for Socio-Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)

Abstract

This short paper explains the theory of path dependence and clarifies its relation to concepts such as positive feedback or lock-in, arguing that path dependence is a core theoretical element of political economy in general, and institutional and evolutionary economics in particular. We first clarify the core conceptual elements of path dependence, show how it is relevant in a wide variety of problems and approaches, and situate these diverse applications in a common theoretical understanding that can be synthesized as a general mechanism. We then discuss the different ways in which path dependence has been theorized in evolutionary-institutional economics and related schools of thought. Finally, we present some archetypical models of path dependent processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudius Graebner Radkowitsch & Jakob Kapeller, 2024. "Path Dependence," ICAE Working Papers 154, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ico:wpaper:154
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Kaldor, 1980. "The Foundations of Free Trade Theory and their Implications for the Current World Recession," International Economic Association Series, in: Edmond Malinvaud & Jean-Paul Fitoussi (ed.), Unemployment in Western Countries, chapter 4, pages 85-100, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Prebisch, Raúl, 1950. "The economic development of Latin America and its principal problems," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 29973, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    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
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • B55 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Social Economics
    • C69 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Other

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