Turning Economics into an Evolutionary Science: Veblen, the Selection Metaphor, and Analogical Thinking

In his article, Why is not an evolutionary science? Thorstein Veblen says that economics is helplessly behind the times, and unable to handle its subject-matter in a way to entitle it to standing as a (1898b, 403). In addition, he claims that modern are evolutionary sciences (1898b, 403). A way to remedy this problem and to turn into an evolutionary science is to introduce aspects of Darwin's explanatory model of biological evolution to economic theory. However, there are different possibilities how Darwinian concepts can be harnessed to further develop economic theory. This problem has triggered a conceptual-methodological debate in the economic community. This paper discusses several explanatory approaches to economic phenomena the concept of routines, Universal Darwinism, and the continuity hypothesis that rely on concepts borrowed from biology. To emphasize the differences between these avenues, special attention is given to their dealing with the units and processes of selection in biological and economic evolution. Selectionist models analogous to phylogenetic biological evolution are prominent in many works in the field of evolutionary economics. Moreover, the relation of these approaches to Veblen's own notions and demands with regards to the conversion of into an evolutionary science is highlighted. How fruitful is the introduction of explanatory