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"Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science?" New Answers to Veblen's Old Question

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  • Leonhard Dobusch
  • Jakob Kapeller

Abstract

Addressing the question why Economics as a discipline is not subject to evolutive processes itself, we explain the paradigmatical dominance of neoclassical theories in Economics as a path dependent process. Recognizing economics as "locked into neoclassical thinking," we first identify three positive feedback mechanisms leading to strong barriers to paradigmatic change: coordination, complementarity, and learning mechanisms. In a second step, we show how actors strategically enforce these mechanisms via distinct "amplifiers." We then try to use this theoretical perspective to cursorily describe potentially path-breaking strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonhard Dobusch & Jakob Kapeller, 2009. ""Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science?" New Answers to Veblen's Old Question," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 867-898.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:43:y:2009:i:4:p:867-898
    DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624430403
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    Cited by:

    1. Jairo Parada Corrales, 2016. "Economía pluralista para enfrentar la crisis contemporánea," Revista de Economía del Caribe 14795, Universidad del Norte.
    2. Jakob Kapeller & Matthias Aistleitner & Stefan Steinerberger, 2017. "Citation Patterns in Economics and Beyond: Assessing the Peculiarities of Economics from Two Scientometric Perspectives," ICAE Working Papers 60, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    3. Claudius Gräbner, 2017. "The Complexity of Economies and Pluralism in Economics," Journal of Contextual Economics (JCE) – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 137(3), pages 193-225.
    4. William A. Jackson, 2018. "Strategic Pluralism and Monism in Heterodox Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 237-251, June.
    5. Claudius Gräbner & Birte Strunk, 2020. "Pluralism in economics: its critiques and their lessons," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 311-329, October.
    6. Karl M. Beyer & Christian Grimm & Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer, 2017. "Der 'deutsche Sonderweg' im Fokus: Eine vergleichende Analyse der paradigmatischen Struktur und der politischen Orientierung der deutschen und US-amerikanischen Oekonomie (The 'German special path': A," ICAE Working Papers 71, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    7. Quaas, Georg & Klein, Mathias, 2010. "Is the Phillips Curve of Germany Spurious?," MPRA Paper 26604, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. J. E. King, 2012. "Post Keynesians and Others," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 305-319, April.
    9. Rouven Reinke, 2021. "A critical note on the scientific conception of economics: claiming for a methodological pluralism," Post-Print hal-03374887, HAL.
    10. Jakob Kapeller & Bernhard Schütz, 2015. "Conspicuous Consumption, Inequality and Debt: The Nature of Consumption-driven Profit-led Regimes," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 51-70, February.
    11. Matthias Aistleitner & Jakob Kapeller & Stefan Steinerberger, 2018. "Citation Patterns in Economics and Beyond," Working Papers Series 85, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    12. Erkan Gurpinar & Altug Yalcintas, 2015. "One Long Argument in Economics: Explaining Intellectual Inertia in terms of Evolutionary Ontology," STOREPapers 2_2015, Associazione Italiana per la Storia dell'Economia Politica - StorEP.
    13. Florentin GLOETZL & Ernest AIGNER, 2017. "Six Dimensions of Concentration in Economics: Scientometric Evidence from a Large-Scale Data Set," Ecological Economics Papers ieep15, Institute of Ecological Economics.
    14. Ernest Aigner, 2021. "Global dynamics and country-level development in academic economics: An explorative cognitive-bibliometric study," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2021_07, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    15. Beckenbach, Frank, 2019. "Monism in modern science: The case of (micro-)economics," Working Paper Serie des Instituts für Ökonomie Ök-49, Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung (HfGG), Institut für Ökonomie.
    16. Luciano Ferreira Silva & Arnoldo José Hoyos Guevara & Ernesto D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez & Paulo Sergio Gonçalves Oliveira, 2019. "Evolution toward environment sustainable behavior: search for survival in the plastic industry in Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1291-1320, June.
    17. Christian Grimm & Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer, 2017. "Zum Profil der deutschsprachigen Volkswirtschaftslehre: Paradigmatische Ausrichtung und politische Orientierung deutschsprachiger Oekonom_innen (On the current state of German-speaking Economics: Para," ICAE Working Papers 70, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    18. Marco Novarese & Andrea Pozzali, 2010. "Heterodox Economics and the Scientist's Role in Society," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1614-1635, November.
    19. Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer & Christian Grimm, 2022. "Paradigms and policies: the state of economics in the German-speaking countries," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 1183-1210, July.
    20. Jakob Kapeller, 2010. "Citation Metrics: Serious Drawbacks, Perverse Incentives, and Strategic Options for Heterodox Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1376-1408, November.
    21. Prante, Franz J. & Barmucci, Alessandro & Hein, Eckhard & Truger, Achim, 2019. "Interactive macroeconomics: A pluralist simulator," IPE Working Papers 117/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    22. Matthias Aistleitner & Stephan Puehringer, 2023. "Biased Trade Narratives and Its Influence on Development Studies: A Multi-level Mixed-Method Approach," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(6), pages 1322-1346, December.

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