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Veblen's "Instinct of Workmanship," its Cognitive Foundations, and Some Implications for Economic Theory

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  • Christian Cordes

Abstract

This paper delivers some findings from the present-day cognitive sciences on man’s cognitive dispositions that support aspects of Veblen’s "nstinct of workmanship," which is an essential starting point of his evolutionary theory of institutional change. These cognitive dispositions partly govern which information will be subject to profound contemplation and be easy to disseminate within a population. Furthermore, they may give rise to a bias in human creativity. As a result, some cognitive foundations of the "nstinct of workmanship" may induce a general direction in long-term economic development by influencing the continuous accretion of knowledge during cultural evolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Cordes, 2004. "Veblen's "Instinct of Workmanship," its Cognitive Foundations, and Some Implications for Economic Theory," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2004-01, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    • Handle: RePEc:esi:evopap:2004-01
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boyd, Robert & Richerson, Peter J., 1980. "Sociobiology, culture and economic theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 97-121, June.
    2. Olivier Brette, 2003. "Thorstein Veblen's theory of institutional change: beyond technological determinism," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 455-477.
    3. Stephen Edgell, 1975. "Thorstein Veblen's Theory of Evolutionary Change," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 267-280, July.
    4. Hans E. Jensen, 1987. "The Theory of Human Nature," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 1039-1073, September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Cordes, 2009. "The Role of Biology and Culture in Veblenian Consumption Dynamics," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 115-142.
    2. Christian Cordes, 2006. "Darwinism in economics: from analogy to continuity," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 529-541, December.
    3. Guido Buenstorf & Christian Cordes, 2007. "Can Sustainable Consumption Be Learned?," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2007-06, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    4. Buenstorf, Guido & Cordes, Christian, 2008. "Can sustainable consumption be learned? A model of cultural evolution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 646-657, November.
    5. Cordes, Christian & Richerson, Peter J. & McElreath, Richard & Strimling, Pontus, 2008. "A naturalistic approach to the theory of the firm: The role of cooperation and cultural evolution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 125-139, October.
    6. Christian Cordes & Peter J. Richerson & Richard McElreath & Pontus Strimling, 2006. "How Does Opportunistic Behavior Influence Firm Size?," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2006-18, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    7. 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.
    8. Ioannis A. Katselidis, 2019. "Institutions, Policy and the Labour Market: The Contribution of the Old Institutional Economics," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 8, pages 13-30, December.
    9. Felipe Almeida, 2016. "Society and brain: A complementary approach to Thorstein Veblen’s conspicuous consumer based on Tibor Scitovsky’s neuropsychology [Society and brain: A complementary approach to Thorstein Veblen’s con," Nova Economia, Economics Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), vol. 26(2), pages 347-367, May-Augus.
    10. Davanzati, Guglielmo Forges, 2018. "Structural change driven by institutions: Thorstein veblen revised," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 105-110.
    11. Christian Cordes, 2012. "Emergent Cultural Phenomena and their Cognitive Foundations," Chapters, in: Guido Buenstorf (ed.), Evolution, Organization and Economic Behavior, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Ciarli, Tommaso & Parto, Saeed & Savona, Maria, 2010. "Conflict and Entrepreneurial Activity in Afghanistan: Findings from the National Risk Vulnerability Assessment Data," WIDER Working Paper Series 008, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Lambert, Thomas, 2019. "Rationality and Capitalist Schooling," MPRA Paper 92594, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Guglielmo Forges Davanzati, 2016. "Thorstein Veblen on the nature of the firm and income distribution," Working Papers PKWP1618, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    human instincts; technological change; institutional change; longterm economic development; evolutionary economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian

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