The evolution of IT innovations in Swedish organizations : a Darwinian critique of 'Lamarckian' institutional economics

• Fundamental correspondence and analogies between the evolution of technological and biological innovations call for an `innovation Darwinian', `universal Darwinian' or `memetic' approach to understanding technology innovation. Neo-institutional, in fact pseudo-Lamarckian evolutionary economic theory, represented by North, Nelson and Winter, Freeman and others, is criticized. Pseudo-Lamarckian (“by volition”) evolution is explained and analyzed on Darwinian grounds (as intentional and artificial selection), as is Schumpeter's definitions of creative and imitative innovation. Data from a web survey among Swedish public and private organizations in 1999 are studied. Data show that Darwinian co-evolutionary interaction between producers and users or clients provide essential conditions and stronger influence on creative IT innovations than both `Lamarckian' strategies and competition.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Matematik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Mathematics (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Information technologies

Meme

Evolutionary economics

Institutions

Darwinism

SOCIAL SCIENCES

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Political science

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)