Towards a Developmental Turn in Evolutionary Economic Geography?

Abstract

Martin R. and Sunley P. Towards a developmental turn in evolutionary economic geography?, Regional Studies. Over the past couple of decades or so there have been increasing moves within evolutionary theory to move beyond the neo-Darwinian principles of variety, selection and retention, and to incorporate development. This has led to a richer palette of concepts, mechanisms and models of evolution and change, such as plasticity, robustness, evolvability, emergence, niche construction and self-organization, This opens up a different framework for understanding evolution. This paper sets out the main characteristics of the recent and ongoing ‘developmental turn’ in evolutionary theory and suggests how these might inform a corresponding ‘developmental turn’ in evolutionary economic geography.

Martin R. and Sunley P. 演化经济地理中的发展转向？区域研究。过去数十年来，演化理论中，有越来越多超越新达尔文主义有关变异、选择与维持准则之转变，并纳入了发展。此一转变导致了更为丰富的概念、机制，以及演化和变迁的模式，诸如可塑性、坚实、可进化性、浮现、利基建立与自我组织。此一趋势，开啓了不同的框架来理解演化。本文阐述晚近在演化理论中持续进行的“发展转向”的主要特徵，并指出这些特徵如何告知演化经济地理中相应的“发展转向”。

Martin R. et Sunley P. Vers une tournure dans la géographie économique évolutionniste?, Regional Studies. Au cours des deux dernières décennies ou presque, il y a eu une augmentation des démarches au sein de la théorie évolutionniste en faveur d'aller au-delà des principes néo-darwiniens de variété, de sélection, et de conservation, et d'y intégrer le développement. Cela a amené à une riche palette de notions, de mécanismes et de modèles de l’évolution et de la mutation, telles la plasticité, la robustesse, le caractère évolutive, l’émergence, la construction de créneaux et l'auto-organisation. Cela crée un cadre différent pour comprendre l’évolution. Cet article élabore les principales caractéristiques de la récente ‘tournure’ courante dans la théorie évolutionniste et suggère comment elles pourraient informer une ‘tournure’ correspondante dans la géographie économique évolutionniste.

Martin R. und Sunley P. Auf dem Weg zu einer Entwicklungswende in der evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeografie?, Regional Studies. In den letzten Jahrzehnten gab es innerhalb der Evolutionstheorie verstärkte Bewegungen zur Weiterentwicklung der neodarwinistischen Prinzipien der Vielfalt, Auswahl und Beibehaltung sowie zur Berücksichtigung der Entwicklung. Dies hat zu einer reichhaltigeren Palette von Konzepten, Mechanismen und Modellen der Evolution und Veränderung geführt, wie z. B. der Plastizität, Robustheit, Evolvierbarkeit, Emergenz, Nischenbildung und Selbstorganisation, was einen unterschiedlichen Rahmen zum Verständnis der Evolution eröffnet. In diesem Beitrag werden die wichtigsten Merkmale der aktuellen und andauernden ‘Entwicklungswende’ in der Evolutionstheorie beschrieben, und es wird dargelegt, wie diese Merkmale eine entsprechende ‘Entwicklungswende’ in der evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeografie gestalten könnten.

Martin R. y Sunley P. ¿Hacia un cambio en el desarrollo de la geografía económica evolutiva?, Regional Studies. En las dos últimas décadas se han observado cada vez más intentos en la teoría de la evolución de ir más allá de los principios neodarwinianos de variedad, selección y retención para considerar también el desarrollo. Esto ha conducido a una paleta más rica de conceptos, mecanismos y modelos de la evolución y el cambio, tales como plasticidad, solidez, evolutividad, emergencia, construcción de nichos y auto-organización, lo que abre vías diferentes para entender la evolución. En este artículo se presentan las características principales del ‘giro del desarrollo’ reciente y continuo en la teoría de la evolución y se indica cómo estas podrían contribuir a un ‘giro del desarrollo’ correspondiente en la geografía económica evolutiva.

• Evolutionary economic geography
• Developmental systems
• Plasticity
• Robustness
• Emergence
• Self organization

• 演化经济地理
• 发展系统
• 可塑性
• 坚实
• 浮现
• 自我组织

• Géographie économique évolutionniste
• Systèmes de développement
• Plasticité
• Robustesse
• Émergence
• Auto-organisation

• Evolutionäre Wirtschaftsgeografie
• Entwicklungssysteme
• Plastizität
• Robustheit
• Emergenz
• Selbstorganisation

• Geografía económica evolutiva
• Sistemas de desarrollo
• Plasticidad
• Solidez
• Emergencia
• Auto-organización

JEL classifications:

• B52
• R11

Notes

1. The terms ‘inheritance’, replication’ and ‘retention’ are often used interchangeably in the evolutionary literature, and likewise also in evolutionary economics. But according to Campbell (1965), in socio-economic contexts ‘retention’ is preferable to ‘inheritance’ or ‘replication’ since the latter two are too loaded with biological connotations.

2. A not dissimilar argument has been made by certain mainstream economists against the need for a separate discipline of evolutionary economics. They are of the view that conventional economic theory can in fact explain evolutionary phenomena and processes (Krugman, 1996).

3. The paper is the latest in an ongoing series in which the aim has been to explore and evaluate the scope and limits of various conceptual approaches to evolutionary economic geography, not in any belief that there is a single superior all-embracing framework to be discovered, but to identify novel evolutionary metaphors, notions and principles that seem to be potentially useful in expanding the conceptual reach and empirical concerns of the subject.

4. The discussion that follows can only provide a brief, simplified and non-technical overview of some of the main ideas and insights that characterize EDB and DST. We have endeavoured to identify the main ideas that may have relevance for evolutionary economic geography.

5. The adoption by DST of this much more inclusive vision of the components and limits of the development system, than that found in EDB, is a key difference between the two approaches. In DST, aspects of the environment are a product of evolution as well as a cause of evolution.

6. This extended view of inheritance has not gone uncontested by other evolutionary theorists. However, DST theorists have argued that such critiques misunderstand this approach to development and evolution (Griffith and Gray, 2005).

7. Of course, it might be argued that everything in the socio-economy consists of, or can be reduced to, ‘rules’ and ‘routines’ (some institutional theorists subscribe to this view). But to our mind, to reduce a complex system like an economy to rules and routines is akin to the problem of gene-centrism that the proponents of evolutional developmental biology and developmental theory are seeking to avoid.

8. Different economic agents and firms in an industrial cluster may react quite differently to changes in the market and technological environment in which they compete, and hence may pursue different developmental and evolutionary trajectories. Understanding this heterogeneity requires deep contextualization, ‘downwards’, ‘upwards’ and ‘outwards’.

9. The conceptions of self-organization and emergence thus differ from the use of these notions in Austrian economics, where they are ascribed to the ‘spontaneous’ workings of abstract competitive market forces.

10. It is intriguing that the recent surge of interest by economic geographers in institutions comes at a time of mounting institutional failure and growing public disenchantment with, and distrust of, many of the institutions that govern everyday economic and social life. The financial crisis that has afflicted many counties in 2008 was in part the result of the failure of the regulatory institutions to curb the excessive risk-taking and leverage activities of the banks.