Towards a neo(co)evolutionary theory of industry, civil society,
polity and technology:
Enriching evolutionary economics with insights from institutional
theory, organization theory, economic sociology and strategic
management
This article proposes a new co-evolutionary theory to understand how industry, markets and
technology interact with civil society and broader polity. This theory builds on but moves beyond
evolutionary economics (EE) to address several under-developed topics in EE that relate to a) agency
(in particular strategy and interpretation), b) environment (limited attention for civil society), and c)
social problems and normative issues. To address these problems, this article enriches EE with
insights from other disciplines and fields (such as neo-institutional sociology, organization theory,
economic sociology and strategic management) and synthesizes these into a new co-evolutionary
theory. The article develops a triple embeddedness framework, which conceptualizes industry actors
as embedded in two external (task and institutional) environments and in an industry regime whose
core elements (technology, beliefs, mission, strategic orientation) guide actions towards the external
environments. The neo(co)evolutionary theory links the external environments to core elements and
types of action through five ‘enactment-adaptation cycles’: evolutionary cycle (behavioural learning),
sensenmaking cycle (cognitive learning), political cycle, cultural cycle, and normative cycle. These
cycles specify the recursive mechanisms that link external pressures and endogenous (strategic)
responses. Empirical implications and propositions are specified for destabilization processes in
transitions, industry responses to social problems, and longitudinal industry trajectories.
Biography
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Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering, Twente University of Technology, Netherlands
(1989-1991)
Masters degree in Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society, Twente University of
Technology (1991-1996)
DPhil, Twente University of Technology (1998-2002). Supervisors: Johan Schot, Arie Rip
Postdoctoral research fellow: Eindhoven University of Technology (2002-2008)
Professor (0.5 fte): Brunel University, London, UK (2007-2008)
Professorial fellow: SPRU, University of Sussex, UK (2008- )