Selected efficiency: a neo-Schumpeterian evolutionaryperspective on normative economic issues

This paper intends to address an almost completely disregarded field in Neo-Schumpeterian Evolutionary economics: that of normative theory and competition policy issues. The amount of both modeling and appreciative theorizing that has been produced under this approach is already impressive, but it lacks a corresponding effort on normative implications of the theory. After discussing the limitations of the static Pareto-efficiency tools for competition analysis and policy, especially in antitrust, some scarce contributions towards dynamic efficiency and related concepts are briefly reviewed. Finally, an alternative dynamic efficiency concept labeled “selective efficiency”, focusing on the efficiency of the market as a selective environment (apud Nelson & Winter), is introduced and the basic lines of a possible analytical framework for its application are suggested.

KEYWORDS:
Innovation and market efficiency; selective efficiency