<i>'The great challenge posed by capitalism is its creativity and, as everyone should recognise, this makes it an out of equilibrium system, the emergent properties of which depend on how it is ordered and instituted though regulated markets and the profit motive. This fine book explores and elaborates the interface between the ideas of Marshall and Schumpeter to cast new light on the ways in which wealth is created from knowledge and thus how capitalism is always changing from within.'</i><br /> --J.S. Metcalfe, University of Manchester, UK
The author carefully explores the role of the reactivity of firms to out-of-equilibrium conditions with a unique mix of econometric tools and simulation techniques. He examines the central role of knowledge externalities in shaping the likelihood of creative responses, and hence the generation of new knowledge and the introduction of innovations, as an alternative to adaptive responses that lead the system to equilibrium with no growth. In so doing, he confirms that innovation is the outcome of the interaction between individual decision-making and the endogenous and path-dependent properties of the system into which firms are embedded.
This original and insightful work will be required reading for all those working on evolutionary economics, complexity economics, and the economics of innovation and knowledge.