Evolution of Institutions and Organizations (original) (raw)
Related papers
How Institutions Evolve: Evolutionary Theory and Institutional Change
Polity, 2012
This article argues that questions of gradual institutional change can be understood as an evolutionary process that can be explained through the careful application of "generalized Darwinism." We argue that humans' advanced cognitive capacities contribute to an evolutionary understanding of institutional change. In constantly generating new variation upon which mechanisms of selection and replication operate, cognition, cognitive schemas, and ideas become central for understanding the building of human institutions, as well as the scope and pace of their evolution. Evolutionary theories thus provide a broad theoretical framework that integrates the study of cognition, ideas, and decision-making with other literatures that focus on institutional change and human evolution.
On the Joint Evolution of Culture and Institutions
2017
What accounts for economic growth and prosperity? What stands at their origin? Recent literature typically searches for single univariate causal explanations: institutions, culture, human capital, geography. In this paper we provide instead a first theoretical modeling of the interaction between different possible explanations for growth and prosperity (in particular, between culture and institutions) and their effects on economic activity. Depending on the economic environment, culture and institutions might complement each other, giving rise to a multiplier effect, or on the contrary they can act as substitutes, contrasting each other and limiting their combined ability to spur economic activity. By means of examples we show how the dynamics display non-ergodic behavior, cycles, and other interestingly complex phenomena.
Introduction to the Special Issue on the Evolution of Institutions
2011
How can evolutionary ideas be applied to the study of social and political institutions? Charles Darwin identified the mechanisms of variation, selection and retention. He emphasized that evolutionary change depends on the uniqueness of every individual and its interactions within a population and with its environment. While introducing the contributions to this special issue, we examine some of the ontological positions underlying evolutionary theory, showing why they are appropriate for studying issues in economics, political science and sociology. We consider how these ideas might help us understand both institutional change and the formation of individual preferences. * the key insights suggested by evolutionary theorists across several disciplines and examine how they may help us better understand key conundrums confronted in political science and economics.
This article argues that questions of gradual institutional change can be understood as an evolutionary process that can be explained through the careful application of "generalized Darwinism." We argue that humans' advanced cognitive capacities contribute to an evolutionary understanding of institutional change. In constantly generating new variation upon which mechanisms of selection and replication operate, cognition, cognitive schemas, and ideas become central for understanding the building of human institutions, as well as the scope and pace of their evolution. Evolutionary theories thus provide a broad theoretical framework that integrates the study of cognition, ideas, and decision-making with other literatures that focus on institutional change and human evolution.
The Evolution of Institutions: An Agenda for Future
Constitutional Political Economy, 2002
This article reviews some theoretical questions concerning the processes of institutional evolution. The necessity of assuming the prior existence of some other institutions, such as language, is underlined. Arguably, the emergence and stability of some institutions may be enhanced by processes of ‘downward causation’ through which institutional constraints lead to the formation of concordant habits of thought and behaviour. Having
2007
This paper takes a stance on the recent debate about the explanatory relevance of the Darwinian scheme “variation-inheritance-selection” for the study of socio-cultural evolution. Building on the knowledge of different disciplines, I argue that the fundamental assumptions of such debate are misleading. Rather than building analogies to other levels of reality, I treat the “economy” as an institution whose nature and dynamics is socio-cultural, that is, intrinsically different from the dynamics of physic-chemical and biological realities. The main implication of this multi-level ontology is the rejection not only of generalized Darwinism but also of any other generalized scheme such as self-organization. I finally suggest the reconciliation of the terms “evolution” and “history” taking account that I consider evolutionary institutional economics as a sub-discipline of social science.
The Evolution of Social Institutions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2020
Introduction describes the main aim of the volume as to present a novel approach to the study of social evolution. This approach is based on a look at, and analysis of social evolution through the evolution of social institutions associated with the rise and development of social complexity. Evolution is defined as the process of structural change. Within this framework, the society, or culture, is seen as a system composed of a great number of various social institutions that are interacting and changing. As a result, the whole structure of society is changing, that is evolving. Evolution does not have any particular direction, as any significant (that is, transforming the societal structure in any direction) change is evolutionary. Introduction gives an outline of the history of the notion of social institution and its conceptualization, and describes social institutions’ main characteristics and functions. It also summarizes the volume’s theoretical chapters and case studies.
Studying institutions in the context 2 of natural selection: limits or 3 opportunities? 4
Q2, Q3 9 response to our article on the role of evolutionary psychology in understanding 10 institutions (Boyer and Petersen, 2011). We discuss how evolutionary 11 psychological models account for cultural variation and change in institutions, 12 how sociological institutionalism and evolutionary models can inform each other, 13 how evolutionary psychological models illuminate the role of power in 14 institutional design and the possibility of a 'general theory'of institutions. 15 16
Institutional Analysis and Evolutionary Theory
This paper examines evolutionary theories developed in the life sciences and explores the ways in which specific concepts and insights from these theories can be successfully applied to social and political institutions. This paper is not intended to present its own research, but instead offered as an introduction to evolutionary theory and some of its implications for political science. We argue that endogenous institutional change should be seen as an evolutionary process. Viewing history in this way, however, suggests a different ontological perspective than that which is typically found in political science. We highlight Darwin's fundamental insight that evolutionary change depends on the variation between every individual within a population or species. Because all individuals are different, they will sometimes respond or adapt to environmental stimuli in unique ways. Secondly, we examine some of the ontological positions underlying evolutionary theory and demonstrate why they are appropriate for studying issues of interest to political scientists and institutionalists in particular. Finally, we attempt to use some of the insights drawn from evolutionary theory to help offer insights on two current issues in political science theory: 1) where do preferences come from and 2) how can we explain institutional change? 1 The authors would like to thank