Evolutionary growth theory and forms of realism

• Published in: Cambridge journal of economics Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 33 - 63
• Main Author: Northover, Patricia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01-01-1999; Oxford University Press for the Cambridge Political Economy Society; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Causal law; Cognition & reasoning; Cultural change; Economic growth; Economic growth models; Economic growth theories; Economic models; Economic research; Economic theory; Economists; Evolution; Evolutionary theories; Idealism; Ontology; Philosophical realism; Philosophy; Philosophy of science; Political economy; Positivism; Realism; Studies; Transcendentals
• ISSN: 0309-166X; 1464-3545; 1464-3545
• DOI: 10.1093/cje/23.1.33

In response to arguable failings in neoclassical explanations of economic growth, Nelson and Winter have offered the alternative of an evolutionary theory for enhanced explanatory power. In so doing they have introduced a distinction between 'formal' and 'appreciative' theory which has since been enthusiastically taken up by many. However, are Nelson and Winter's 'formalisms' really any different from a positivistic instrumentalism? In this paper, I reassess the fruitfulness of Nelson and Winter's formal theorising on economic growth and the genuineness of their realist credentials by drawing on recent developments in the philosophy of science, systematised under the heading of transcendental realism.