?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4518%2F&rft.title=Evolutionary+Theorizing+on+Economic+Growth&rft.creator=Silverberg%2C+G.&rft.creator=Verspagen%2C+B.&rft.description=The+research+project+on+Systems+Analysis+of+Technological+and+Economic+Dynamics+at+IIASA+is+concerned+with+modeling+technological+and+organisational+change%3B+the+broader+economic+developments+that+are+associated+with+technological+change%2C+both+as+cause+and+effect%3B+the+processes+by+which+economic+agents+--+first+of+all%2C+business+firms+--+acquire+and+develop+the+capabilities+to+generate%2C+imitate+and+adopt+technological+and+organisational+innovations%3B+and+the+aggregate+dynamics+--+at+the+levels+of+single+industries+and+whole+economies+--+engendered+by+the+interactions+among+agents+which+are+heterogeneous+in+their+innovative+abilities%2C+behavioural+rules+and+expectations.+The+central+purpose+is+to+develop+stronger+theory+and+better+modeling+techniques.+However%2C+the+basic+philosophy+is+that+such+theoretical+and+modeling+work+is+most+fruitful+when+attention+is+paid+to+the+known+empirical+details+of+the+phenomena+the+work+aims+to+address%3A+therefore%2C+a+considerable+effort+is+put+into+a+better+understanding+of+the+%22stylized+facts%22+concerning+corporate+organisation+routines+and+strategy%3B+industrial+evolution+and+the+%22demography%22+of+firms%3B+patterns+of+macroeconomic+growth+and+trade.+%0D%0A%0D%0AFrom+a+modeling+perspective%2C+over+the+last+decade+considerable+progress+has+been+made+on+various+techniques+of+dynamic+modeling.+Some+of+this+work+has+employed+ordinary+differential+and+difference+equations%2C+and+some+of+it+stochastic+equations.+A+number+of+efforts+have+taken+advantage+of+the+growing+power+of+simulation+techniques.+Others+have+employed+more+traditional+mathematics.+As+a+result+of+this+theoretical+work%2C+the+toolkit+for+modeling+technological+and+economic+dynamics+is+significantly+richer+than+it+was+a+decade+ago.+%0D%0A%0D%0ADuring+the+same+period%2C+there+have+been+major+advances+in+the+empirical+understanding.+There+are+now+many+more+detailed+technological+histories+available.+Much+more+is+known+about+the+similarities+and+differences+of+technical+advance+in+different+fields+and+industries+and+there+is+some+understanding+of+the+key+variables+that+lie+behind+those+differences.+A+number+of+studies+have+provided+rich+information+about+how+industry+structure+co-evolves+with+technology.+In+addition+to+empirical+work+at+the+technology+or+sector+level%2C+the+last+decade+has+also+seen+a+great+deal+of+empirical+research+on+productivity+growth+and+measured+technical+advance+at+the+level+of+whole+economies.+A+considerable+body+of+empirical+research+now+exists+on+the+facts+that+seem+associated+with+different+rates+of+productivity+growth+across+the+range+of+nations%2C+with+the+dynamics+of+convergence+and+divergence+in+the+levels+and+rates+of+growth+of+income%2C+with+the+diverse+national+institutional+arrangements+in+which+technological+change+is+embedded.+%0D%0A%0D%0AAs+a+result+of+this+recent+empirical+work%2C+the+questions+that+successful+theory+and+useful+modeling+techniques+ought+to+address+now+are+much+more+clearly+defined.+The+theoretical+work+has+often+been+undertaken+in+appreciation+of+certain+stylized+facts+that+needed+to+be+explained.+The+list+of+these+%22facts%22+is+indeed+very+long%2C+ranging+from+the+microeconomic+evidence+concerning+for+example+dynamic+increasing+returns+in+learning+activities+or+the+persistence+of+particular+sets+of+problem-solving+routines+within+business+firms%3B+the+industry-level+evidence+on+entry%2C+exit+and+size-distributions+--+approximately+log-normal+--+all+the+way+to+the+evidence+regarding+the+time-series+properties+of+major+economic+aggregates.+However%2C+the+connection+between+the+theoretical+work+and+the+empirical+phenomena+has+so+far+not+been+very+close.+The+philosophy+of+this+project+is+that+the+chances+of+developing+powerful+new+theory+and+useful+new+analytical+techniques+can+be+greatly+enhanced+by+performing+the+work+in+an+environment+where+scholars+who+understand+the+empirical+phenomena+provide+questions+and+challenges+for+the+theorists+and+their+work.+%0D%0A%0D%0AIn+particular%2C+the+project+is+meant+to+pursue+an+%22evolutionary%22+interpretation+of+technological+and+economic+dynamics+modeling%2C+first%2C+the+processes+by+which+individual+agents+and+organisations+learn%2C+search%2C+adapt%3B+second%2C+the+economic+analogues+of+%22natural+selection%22+by+which+interactive+environments+--+often+markets+-+winnow+out+a+population+whose+members+have+different+attributes+and+behavioural+traits%3B+and%2C+third%2C+the+collective+emergence+of+statistical+patterns%2C+regularities+and+higher-level+structures+as+the+aggregate+outcomes+of+the+two+former+processes.+%0D%0A%0D%0ATogether+with+a+group+of+researchers+located+permanently+at+IIASA%2C+the+project+coordinates+multiple+research+efforts+undertaken+in+several+institutions+around+the+world%2C+organises+workshops+and+provides+a+venue+of+scientific+discussion+among+scholars+working+on+evolutionary+modeling%2C+computer+simulation+and+non-linear+dynamical+systems.+%0D%0A%0D%0AThe+research+focuses+upon+the+following+three+major+areas%3A+(1)+Learning+Processes+and+Organisational+Competence%3B+(2)+Technological+and+Industrial+Dynamic%3B+(3)+Innovation%2C+Competition+and+Macrodynamics.&rft.publisher=WP-95-078&rft.date=1995-08&rft.type=Monograph&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text&rft.language=en&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4518%2F1%2FWP-95-078.pdf&rft.identifier=++Silverberg%2C+G.+%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fview%2Fiiasa%2F284.html%3E+%26+Verspagen%2C+B.+%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fview%2Fiiasa%2F2482.html%3E++(1995).++Evolutionary+Theorizing+on+Economic+Growth.+++IIASA+Working+Paper.+IIASA%2C+Laxenburg%2C+Austria%3A+WP-95-078+++++