Since the 1980s there has been a renewed interest in attempts to introduce a sense of history into economic literature. In this book, the authors argue that it is not possible to explain a state of the world without first analysing the processes that lead to that state. The contributions collected in this volume share a critical stance towards the timelessness and a historical theorizing of mainstream economics. Past states in the development of an economic process set the range of possibilities for future development and can be used to construct theories based on the irreversibility of economic time. Many of these notable contributors argue that the study of the history of economic thought is important in two ways. Firstly, because it provides important insights into the ways that economists of the past attempted to address the problems of history and secondly, because it helps us to understand the present state of economics as being itself the outcome of a path dependent process. Evolutionary economists, economic theorists and historians, as well as economists interested in the evolution of economic and other social institutions, will find this challenging collection of papers essential reading.

The last twenty years have witnessed a tremendous increase in industrial collaboration in research and development (R&D) both in Europe and the world at large. Firms have increasingly opted for collaboration in an effort to deal with the uncertainties that stem from rising research costs, rapid technological change and the development of a network economy. Governments have been quick to support this trend in order to promote competitiveness and, in the European context, to foster cohesion. The contributions collected in this volume focus explicitly on cooperative R&D in Europe. The first part of the book offers empirical evidence on the extent, scope and direction of this collaboration and explores the motives and problems of the participating firms, as well as the perceived benefits they have enjoyed. The second part deals with the difficult policy issues that diverse national R&D regimes create for successful cooperative research and international convergence. The extensive survey results of European firms allow the authors to compare collaborative research policies in various EU countries and contrast the policy design that has emerged in the EU with that of the USA. This book offers the most comprehensive account of collaborative industrial research in Europe and explores both the business strategies that have motivated it and the public policies that have promoted it. Academics, graduate students, government agencies and European institutions involved in science and technology policy and R&D management will find this volume to be invaluable. It will also be of great practical use to companies interested in forming strategic technical alliances.

This book is based on the premise that mainstream economics has become excessively specialized and formalized, entering a state of de facto withdrawal from the study of the economy in favour of exercises in applied mathematics. The editors believe that there is much scope for synergies by engaging in an encounter with economics and the other social sciences. The chapters in this book offer important new contributions to such a development. A select group of highly regarded contributors illustrate the potentially enlightening relationship between economics and a wide range of social science disciplines. In addition, some important concepts for economic analysis - for example the notion of routines, of social capital and of flexibility - are explored from the vantage point of several social sciences. Postgraduate students in most social science disciplines and in economic sociology will find much to interest them in this book, as will students of psychology and economics.