%0 Journal Article
%@ 0022-0515
%A Nelson, R.R.
%D 1995
%F iiasa:4224
%I American Economic Association
%J Journal of Economic Literature
%N 1
%P 48-90
%T Recent evolutionary theorizing about economic change
%U https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/4224/
%V 33
%X Economists long have employed evolutionary language and metaphors to characterize economic change, but until recently have largely eschewed the expression of explicit evolutionary theories. Over the last decade, however, a number of explicit evolutionary theories have been developed by economists, and other social scientists. This essay discusses the general analytic art form, and summarizes and discusses a number of the particular models. In the light of those examples, it evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of explicit evolutionary theorizing as an approach to understanding economic change.