Policy Implications of Recent Advances in Evolutionary and Institutional Economics ─ Essays in Honor of Wolfram Elsner

This collection is inspired by the coming retirement of Professor Wolfram Elsner. It presents cutting-edge economic research relevant to economic policies and policy-making, placing a strong focus on innovative perspectives.

In a changing world that has been shaken by economic, social, financial, and ecological crises, it becomes increasingly clear that new approaches to economics are needed for both theoretical and empirical research; for applied economics as well as policy advice. At this point, it seems necessary to develop new methods, to reconsider theoretical foundations and especially to take into account the theoretical alternatives that have been advocated within the field of economics for many years. This collection seeks to accomplish this by including institutionalist, evolutionary, complexity, and other innovative perspectives. It thereby creates a unique selection of methodological and empirical approaches ranging from game theory to economic dynamics to empirical and historical-theoretical analyses.

The interested reader will find careful reconsiderations of the historical development of institutional and evolutionary theories, enlightening theoretical contributions, interdisciplinary ideas, as well as insightful applications. The collection serves to highlight the common ground and the synergies between the various approaches and thereby to contribute to an emerging coherent framework of alternative theories in economics. This book is of interest to those who study political economy, economic theory and philosophy, as well as economic policy.

Claudius Grabner is a research associate and PhD candidate at the Institute of Institutional and Innovation Economics at the University of Bremen, Germany

Torsten Heinrich holds a post-doc position and teaches at the University of Bremen, Germany

Henning Schwardt received his Ph.D. from the University of Bremen in 2012. His has authored and co-authored books on economic development and microeconomics, as well as peer-reviewed articles in many well-known economic journals.