ABSTRACT
In Chapter 5, three mechanisms have been distinguished in biological evolutionary theory: the selection, replication and mutation mechanism. Another distinction that played a crucial role is that between ‘selection for’ and ‘selection of’. These distinctions will be used in this chapter as an analytical apparatus to dissect the constituent parts and specific characteristics of a Nelson and Winter type of economic evolutionary theory. Again, I want to stress that the notion of ‘Darwinian natural selection’ in biology is not meant to represent an ‘Olympian ideal’ for an economic evolutionary theory. Nelson and Winter argue that they do not intend to develop an economic theory that would be strictly analogous to Darwinian natural selection. Their intention is to get at a better economic theory. Likewise, I do not intend to use ‘Darwinian natural selection’ as an absolute standard to assess the merits and demerits of a Nelson and Winter type of theory. It is my intention to arrive at a better understanding of their theory.
