ABSTRACT
The composition and technological foundation of economic activity is constantly changing. This change manifests, for instance, on the level of connected production structures and consumption patterns. Agents’ individual actions shape these foundations, structures, and patterns. Their actions are, in turn, shaped by the institutional framework that represents their social environment. The direction of change of technological as well as institutional characteristics of the system thus depends on the institutional framework. Institutional frameworks differ, and there is not one single path for such processes of change. Potential paths emerge as a result of preceding paths and their circular and cumulative causation dynamics. Impulses from the overall technological-institutional space have to arise continuously for a long-term instrumentality of processes to be possible. Such impulses rely on individuals’ ability to learn and to utilize acquired knowledge. Consequently, how knowledge creation and transmission is valued is a crucial component for processes of change, and their more instrumental or ceremonial overall character.
