ABSTRACT
The concept of path dependence is intended to capture the way in which small, historical contingent events can set off self-reinforcing mechanisms and processes that lock in particular structures and pathways of development. The intention of the following is a critical examination of the notion of path dependence and its applicability in economics. It is obvious that these variants of new institutional economics gave way of path-breaking new research regarding efficiency of technologies or institutions in achieving public or private goods, but also rather critical reactions. The lesson from institutional hysteresis of short-term exogeneity/long-term endogeneity of institutions in a model is used by Setterfield in an interpretation of Kregels famous article on Economic methodology in the face of uncertainty. The second neighbour science to be looked at is sociology. Like the studies of politics, it is evident that historical sociology enriches the path dependence debate.
