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The nature and units of social selection

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  • Geoffrey Hodgson
  • Thorbjørn Knudsen

Abstract

On the basis of the technical definition of selection developed by George Price (1995), we describe two forms of selection that commonly occur at the social level, subset selection and generative selection. Both forms of selection are abstract and general, and therefore also incomplete; both leave aside the question of explaining the selection criterion and why entities possess stable traits. However, an important difference between the two kinds of selection is that generative selection can accommodate an explanation of how new variation is created, while subset selection cannot. An evolutionary process involving repeated cycles of generative selection can, in principle, continue indefinitely because imperfect replication generates new variation along the way, whereas subset selection reduces variation and eventually grinds to a halt. Even if the two kinds of selection examined here are very different, they share a number of features. First, neither subset selection nor generative selection implies improvement. Neither kind of selection necessarily lead to efficiency or imply systematic outcomes. Second, both subset selection and generative selection can lead to extremely rapid effects in a social population. Third, in the social domain, both generative selection and subset selection involve choice and preference. Neither form of selection necessarily excludes intentionality. In concluding the article, we single out a challenge for future research in identifying the role of various units of culture in selection processes and the multiple levels at which social selection processes take place.
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  • Geoffrey Hodgson & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2006. "The nature and units of social selection," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 477-489, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:16:y:2006:i:5:p:477-489
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-006-0024-6
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    8. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2002. "Darwinism in economics: from analogy to ontology," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 259-281.
    9. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2001. "Is Social Evolution Lamarckian or Darwinian?," Chapters, in: John Laurent & John Nightingale (ed.), Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Geoffrey Hodgson & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2004. "The firm as an interactor: firms as vehicles for habits and routines," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 281-307, July.
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    12. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2003. "The Mystery of the Routine. The Darwinian Destiny of An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 54(2), pages 355-384.
    13. Hodgson, Geoffrey M. & Knudsen, Thorbjorn, 2006. "Why we need a generalized Darwinism, and why generalized Darwinism is not enough," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 1-19, September.
    14. Thorbj, rn Knudsen, 2002. "Economic selection theory," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 443-470.
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    2. Henning Schwardt, 2022. "Technology and social rules and norms in neo-Schumpeterian economics and in original institutional economics," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 75(303), pages 385-401.
    3. 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.
    4. Krzysztof Waśniewski, 2012. "Institutional model of corporate strategies," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 29.
    5. Tim Cochrane & James Maclaurin, 2012. "Evolvability and progress in evolutionary economics," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 101-114, July.
    6. Christian Schubert, 2009. "Darwinism in Economics and the Evolutionary Theory of Policy-Making," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2009-10, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    7. Kurt Dopfer, 2011. "Mesoeconomics: A Unified Approach to Systems Complexity and Evolution," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Magdalena Rosińska-Bukowska, 2017. "Strategic Changes in Transnational Corporations as an Adjustment to the Challenges of the 21st Century," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 5(2), pages 143-157.
    9. Kurt Dopfer, 2012. "The origins of meso economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 133-160, January.
    10. Krzysztof Waśniewski, 2015. "Discretionary freedom of choice and risk in alternative capital markets," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 573-605, June.
    11. Howard Aldrich & Geoffrey Hodgson & David Hull & Thorbjørn Knudsen & Joel Mokyr & Viktor Vanberg, 2008. "In defence of generalized Darwinism," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 577-596, October.
    12. G. Buenstorf, 2005. "How Useful Is Universal Darwinism as a Framework to Study Competition and Industrial Evolution?," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2005-02, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    13. Michalis E. Papazoglou, 2022. "Organizational knowledge actions and the evolution of knowledge environment: a micro-foundations perspective," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 611-624, September.
    14. Owen, John M., 2016. "Global power shifts and the future of democracy: An evolutionary approach, with special attention to China," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2016-108, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. Giuseppe Arcuri & Nadine Levratto & Marianna Succurro, 2023. "Does commercial court organisation affect firms’ bankruptcy rate? evidence from the french judicial reform," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 573-601, June.
    16. Herrmann-Pillath Carsten, 2014. "Naturalizing Institutions: Evolutionary Principles and Application on the Case of Money," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 388-421, April.
    17. Hodgson, Geoffrey M., 2010. "Darwinian coevolution of organizations and the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 700-706, February.
    18. Gilles Campagnolo & Gilbert Tosi, 2016. "Organic Views on Institutions: Has Carl Menger Anticipated Complex Adaptive Systems? [La conception organique des institutions de Carl Menger a-t-elle anticipé ce qu’est un système adaptatif comple," Post-Print hal-01446223, HAL.
    19. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2010. "Social systems evolving—reviewing Leydesdorff’s the knowledge-based economy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 313-319, April.
    20. Victor Zitian Chen & John Cantwell, 2022. "An evolutionary view of institutional complexity," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 1071-1090, July.
    21. J.S Metcalfe, 2004. "Accounting for Evolution: An Assessment of the Population Method," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2004-21, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    22. Waśniewski, Krzysztof, 2010. "Emergence of alternative capital markets in developing countries as a process of institutional change," MPRA Paper 26681, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2018. "Organizational hybrids as biological hybrids: Insights for research on the relationship between social enterprise and the entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 575-590.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Subset selection; Generative selection; Generalized selection; Price equation; B25; B52; D20; D83; L20;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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;
    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

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