ABSTRACT
In this research monograph we have developed cornerstones of a generic institutionalism, emphasizing the foundations of an evolutionary institutional economics. Generic institutionalism synthesizes existing concepts of institutional change within the broader framework of evolutionary economics, by looking into a variety of generic heuristics. The elaborated synthesis delivers theoretical novelties contributing to the development of the scientific discipline in a pluralist and interdisciplinary way. The theoretical structure in this monograph is given by three layers, ontology (Part I), heuristics (Part II) and methodology (Part III). Applications building upon this structure are discussed in concrete policy realms (Part IV). This proposed structure allows a concise framework for the development of evolutionary economic programs. We understand programs in semantic and synthetic terms, where the idea of bottom-up development is used in a ubiquitous way. The evolution of institutional programs is discussed from the bottom up with regard to (1) research agendas of evolutionary economics, discussed within ontologies and (2) evolving institutional systems shaping society and economy, discussed within generic heuristics. Generic institutionalism offers a development kit for these two theoretical streams by introducing their basic semantics in a non-nomological way. However, in this book we have argued to synthesize these semantics in formalized bottom-up models of institutional change in order to feed back the semantic knowledge in synthetic form. Models are always built for specific research communities coded within a certain discourse in consequence. Models entail formalized stories of research agendas and generic heuristics in synthetic form, thereby they are essential for social learning processes within a scientific discipline. Bottom-up models can express the theoretical knowledge of institutional change in precise ways. In consequence we are able to communicate the idea of institutional economic evolution within a broader discourse. The language structure of algorithms (3) establishes this third foundation of generic institutionalism thereafter. The foundations of evolutionary institutional economics introduce this realm with a strong didactic focus informing on the building blocks of evolutionary economics in general.
