Realism and evolutionary economics

Abstract

This article provides a discussion of the foundational aspects of evolutionary economics. Using the framework developed by British realist philosopher Roy Bhaskar, I argue that what sets evolutionary economics apart from neoclassical economics is fundamentally a difference that may best be called "ontological." Whereas evolutionary economics theorizes on the basis of an economic universe that is open, in the sense that the emergence of novelties is allowed, neoclassical economics suppresses novelty. Employing Bhaskarian concepts such as "powers," "generative mechanism," and "closure," I identify further differences—in the domains of explanatory approach, for example, and trace them to the underlying ontological difference.