Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory


Book Description

The motivation behind this book is the desire to integrate complexity theory into economic models of technological evolution. By means of developing an evolutionary model of complex technological systems, the book contributes to the neo-Schumpetarian literature on innovation, diffusion and technological paradigms.




Complexity Perspectives in Innovation and Social Change


Book Description

Innovation is nowadays a question of life and death for many of the economies of the western world. Yet, due to our generally reductionist scientific paradigm, invention and innovation are rarely studied scientifically. Most work prefers to study its context and its consequences. As a result, we are as a society, lacking the scientific tools to understand, improve or otherwise impact on the processes of invention and innovation. This book delves deeply into that topic, taking the position that the complex systems approach, with its emphasis on ‘emergence’, is better suited than our traditional approach to the phenomenon. In a collection of very coherent papers, which are the result of an EU-funded four year international research team’s effort, it addresses various aspect of the topic from different disciplinary angles. One of the main emphases is the need, in the social sciences, to move away from neo-darwinist ‘population thinking’ to ‘organization thinking’ if we want to understand social evolution. Another main emphasis is on developing a generative approach to invention and innovation, looking in detail at the contexts within which invention and innovation occur, and how these contexts impact on the chances for success or failure. Throughout, the book is infused with interesting new insights, but also presents several well-elaborated case studies that connect the ideas with a substantive body of ‘real world’ information.




Complexity and Co-evolution


Book Description

. . . in my opinion. . . readers. . . should find in this book both several remarkable insights concerning basic statements of evolutionary theorising and concrete results that can be acquired by applying such basic statements in computer simulation models and in various fields of analysis. Mauro Lombardi, The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation Complexity theory first emerged three decades or so ago, but only recently has its potential relevance for the study of social and economic phenomena really begun to be recognised. This timely collection of essays clearly demonstrates, both conceptually and empirically, how complexity theory ideas can provide considerable insight into how socio-economic systems cities, societies, industries, technologies and economies evolve and adapt over time. It is essential reading for anyone interested in how order and evolution emerge out of the seemingly chaotic socio-economic world around us. Ron Martin, University of Cambridge, UK I read Complexity and Co-Evolution with real pleasure. These authors have done the near impossible they have made the concepts of a new and evolving science accessible to people who can apply it in practical ways. The clarity of writing reflects the sort of confidence only the truly informed can muster, for they need no jargon to cover confusions. Their mastery allows them to present the essentials in simple, unadorned forms and through genuinely illustrative examples. Any manager or director trying to navigate dynamic markets can use this book to learn new ways of thinking, explore new possibilities, and study historical experiences. Robert Artigiani, United States Naval Academy Current thinking about evolutionary dynamics increasingly relies on co-evolution, and co-evolution increasingly implies complex dynamics of one sort or another. This volume brings together a capable and well-balanced group of thinkers on these topics who explore these deeply related concepts with up-to-date and advanced tools and concepts. For anyone wishing to learn about the latest developments in these rapidly developing areas, this book is highly recommended. J. Barkley Rosser Jr., James Madison University, US This book applies ideas and methods from the complexity perspective to key concerns in the social sciences, exploring co-evolutionary processes that have not yet been addressed in the technical or popular literature on complexity. Authorities in a variety of fields including evolutionary economics, innovation and regeneration studies, urban modelling and history re-evaluate their disciplines within this framework. The book explores the complex dynamic processes that give rise to socio-economic change over space and time, with reference to empirical cases including the emergence of knowledge-intensive industries and decline of mature regions, the operation of innovative networks and the evolution of localities and cities. Sustainability is a persistent theme and the practicability of intervention is examined in the light of these perspectives. Specialists in disciplines that include economics, evolutionary theory, innovation, industrial manufacturing, technology change, and archaeology will find much to interest them in this book. In addition, the strong interdisciplinary emphasis of the book will attract a non-specialist audience interested in keeping abreast of current theoretical and methodological approaches through evidence-based and practical examples.




The Evolutionary Complexity of Endogenous Innovation


Book Description

The notion of endogenous innovation as the outcome of the creative response of firms to out-of-equilibrium conditions is the cornerstone of the new evolutionary complexity. This book elaborates and applies the theoretical framework established in the author’s previous work Endogenous Innovation: The Economics of an Emergent System Property. This volume carefully explores the role of the reactivity of firms to out-of-equilibrium conditions. It also examines the quality of knowledge governance mechanisms in assessing the levels of externalities that define the likelihood of creative responses, as an alternative to adaptive responses.




The Evolution of Economic and Innovation Systems


Book Description

This book is at the cutting edge of the ongoing ‘neo-Schumpeterian’ research program that investigates how economic growth and its fluctuation can be understood as the outcome of a historical process of economic evolution. Much of modern evolutionary economics has relied upon biological analogy, especially about natural selection. Although this is valid and useful, evolutionary economists have, increasingly, begun to build their analytical representations of economic evolution on understandings derived from complex systems science. In this book, the fact that economic systems are, necessarily, complex adaptive systems is explored, both theoretically and empirically, in a range of contexts. Throughout, there is a primary focus upon the interconnected processes of innovation and entrepreneurship, which are the ultimate sources of all economic growth. Twenty two chapters are provided by renowned experts in the related fields of evolutionary economics and the economics of innovation.




Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change


Book Description

This comprehensive and innovative Handbook applies the tools of the economics of complexity to analyse the causes and effects of technological and structural change. It grafts the intuitions of the economics of complexity into the tradition of analysis based upon the Schumpeterian and Marshallian legacies. The Handbook elaborates the notion of innovation as an emerging property of the organized complexity of an economic system, and provides the basic tools to understand the recursive dynamics between the emergence of innovation and the unfolding of organized complexity. In so doing, it highlights the role of organizational thinking in explaining the introduction of innovations and the dynamics of structural change. With a new methodological approach to the economics of technological change, this wide-ranging volume will become the standard reference for postgraduates, academics and practitioners in the fields of evolutionary economics, complexity economics and the economics of innovation.




Complexity in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Research


Book Description

This volume discusses the challenge of dealing with complexity in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology research. Businesses as well as entire economies are increasingly being confronted by widespread complex systems. Fields such as entrepreneurship and innovation cannot ignore this reality, especially with their inherent links to diverse research fields and interdisciplinary methods. However, most methods that allow more detailed analyses of complex problems are either neglected in mainstream research or are, at best, still emerging. Against this backdrop, this book provides a forum for the discussion of emergent and neglected methods in the context of complexity in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology research, and also acts as an inspiration for academics across related disciplines to engage more in complexity research.




Knowledge Diffusion and Innovation


Book Description

The book uses state-of-the-art theorizing about a topic that has attracted a lot of attention in the past five years or so. It provides a very useful review of the literature, and is very well written and on a novel topic. I especially liked the methodological rigour in the exposition of the model, yet at the same time the text remains accessible to a wide readership. I highly recommend the book. Koen Frenken, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Modern economies are described as knowledge based . This book investigates the meaning of such a statement, assessing the relevance of knowledge and the channels through which knowledge is exchanged, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. Moving within the realm of complexity theory, the authors provide a methodological assessment of the knowledge diffusion debate as well as presenting theoretical and applied models of knowledge diffusion and innovation. They illustrate how geography plays a role in shaping innovative patterns and how dense networks generally result in more innovative environments. The book concludes that establishing the right connections within such dense networks appears to be more crucial than any other factor, thus highlighting the importance of linkages (or the effects of their absence) within innovation systems. Proposing a taxonomy of knowledge-sharing patterns, this book will be warmly welcomed by academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of the economics of innovation, evolutionary economics and knowledge economics.




Innovation and Institutional Development for Public Policy


Book Description

This book offers a comprehensive perspective on policy theories, policy formulation and implementation, and alternative paradigm for dealing with complex social and economic systems. It presents insights into policies on major development sectors, including health, education, urbanization, climate change, innovation, advanced manufacturing, and economic growth. It delves into why public policies matter more than resources and are crucial for shaping the future of a country. It attempts a pioneering effort and delineates a complexity theory framework to deal with uncertainty, nonlinearity, emergence, and evolution. It comprises systems thinking, design thinking, complexity thinking, and tools for complexity analysis. Applicable to a policy system, economy, business, and organization, the complexity theory relies on phenomena like emergence, self-organizing property, adaptation, coevolution, and path dependency, in a clear departure from reductionism and Newtonian paradigm. Through academic rigor, it makes a convincing case for better understanding of application of complexity theory. It covers real-world examples and case studies related to evolution of economies of silicon valleys – Bengaluru (India) and San Francisco Bay (USA). These cases underscore the essentiality of complexity theory. In terms of policy formulations, the book contains a policy design framework covering the science of policymaking, innovative approaches, and methodology for policy design. To deal with dynamic systems, it includes a step-by-step guide for the application of system dynamics. It articulates alternative paradigm – adaptive policies and policy design; alternative theory – complexity theory; and new public organizations and institutional development for meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Aiming to reduce fuzziness, the book combines both researcher’s in-depth analysis as well as practitioner’s perspective, thus serving as a vital read for scholars of public policy, management, and economics. It emphasizes the primacy of policy process to discern deep understanding from the ground and to integrate micro-level realities and macro-level requirements. It argues for change from Weberian bureaucratic model to adaptive approaches and recommends policy system reforms, highlighting that countries should make the right policy choices early to steer ahead. In doing so, the book serves the requirements of policymakers and thought leaders.




Complexity, Science and Society


Book Description

'The following sections are a very good representation of the core developments of complexity thinking in a number of major fields. Our intention is to provide an accessible interdisciplinary introduction to the wonderful intellectual breadth that complexity can offer.' - Jan Bogg and Robert Geyer in the Introduction. Complexity is a new and exciting interdisciplinary approach to science and society that challenges traditional academic divisions, frameworks and paradigms. This book helps the expert, student or policy practitioner have a better understanding of the enormous potential of complexity, and how it relates to their particular area of interest or expertise. It provides excellent representations of the core developments of complexity thinking in a number of major fields. "Complexity, Science and Society" brings together an unrivalled selection of new applications of complexity from leading experts across subjects including medicine and healthcare, education, public policy and social theory, ecology, philosophy, international politics, the arts, modelling and design, and others. Together they offer an unprecedented review of the latest developments. This book is an accessible interdisciplinary introduction to the wonderful intellectual breadth that complexity can offer.