In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Joseph A. Schumpeter concluded that socialism would eventually displace capitalism in Western democracies. This would come about as a result of the superior performance of capitalism. We extract six "stylized" propositions that are essential elements of...

By what process does technical change in information technology (IT) increase economic welfare? How does this process result in increases in welfare at different rates in different countries and regions? This paper considers existing literature on measuring the economic benefits from information...

Evidence of falling wages in Catholic cities and rising wages in Protestant cities between 1500 and 1750, during the spread of literacy in the vernacular, is inconsistent with most theoretical models of economic growth. In The Protestant Ethic, Weber suggested an alternative explanation based on...

The system of denominations of US coins, which the paper treats as a quasi-genetic trait of the US monetary system, has not been constant since inception but rather has evolved over time in the sense of being subject to innovation and selection. However, all the innovations have disappeared, as...

Time matters because knowledge changes. Knightian uncertainty excludes correct procedures and proven knowledge, but makes room for imagination and creativity, which drive an evolutionary process. Human cognition relies less on logic than on pattern-making; we impose connecting principles to...

This paper studies the demand for a distinction good - the prestige car - and examines how this demand for distinction influences the evolution of the product. We focus on two very different sorts of distinction car: the Rolls Royce and the Ferrari. These two examples help us to articulate two...

This paper uses a sample of 18,876 adults aged 16-59 from to estimate logit equations of the determinants of support for the custom of abstaining from pre-marital sex. Three sets of equations are estimated separately for males and females; one set for disapproval of pre-marital sex, one set for...

This paper will present a multi-region/multi-country model in which inter-regional knowledge spillovers determine the growth of regions. Key parameters in the model are the learning capability of a region and the rate of knowledge generation (R&D). The intensity of spillovers depends on...

Current models of industry evolution suggest that development patterns should be the same across different levels of analysis. In comparing the evolution of the synthetic dye industry at the global level and in the five major producer countries before World War I (Britain, Germany, France,...

A simple framework is presented in which, each period, each of N individuals chooses among K alternatives. Individual actions are interrelated through a social network which arrays the strength of influence of each person on each other person. Emphasis is on the role of the network. The...