The Naturalist View of Universal Darwinism : An Application to the Evolutionary Theory of the Firm

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to recent efforts to ground evolutionary theory in economics in the principles of Universal Darwinism. The paper will contrast two views of evolution, based on the Ultra-Darwinian and Naturalist theory of biological evolution, both of which are consistent with the principles of Universal Darwinism. It is argued that the specific characteristics of the Naturalist view make it the better starting point for the development of an evolutionary theory of the firm. This claim is substantiated empirically by analysing a crucial episode in the history of the semiconductor firm Intel. The paper concludes with a prospective outlook on the development of an evolutionary theory of the firm along the lines of a Naturalist view of Universal Darwinism