Abstract

HERNANDEZ U, IVÁN D.. Evolutionary Economics and Darwin. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.301-310. ISSN 0120-548X.

From the XIXth century onwards, two different paths were taken in the history of economic science. Almost simultaneously, the darwinian and the marginalist revolution took place but their respective -ulterior motif - could not be more opposited one from the other. The theory of Darwin about the evolution of the species by means of the natural selection, became a challenge to the dominant vision of the world: the Newtonian one (Witt, 1999). This challenge to the Newtonian ideal, was influenced, paradoxically, by intellectual stimuli coming from thinkers outside biology. These influences emanated from the liberal social philosophy of -laissez faire, laissez passer- during the XVIII century and beginning of the XIX century. In Darwin's correspondence with Herbert Spencer, stands out the clear influence of economists-philosophers like Adam Smith, from the so-called School of Edinburgh, and Robert Malthus. The paradox is that nowadays Darwin, in return, influences modern economists. The Darwinian revolution in the modern economy consists in showing capitalism as a evolutionary process explained by processes of change of patterns in the relations between entities. But great part of this study of Darwinian influence does not have to do with the study of Biology itself. It is related to the principles and concepts that define the evolutionary mechanism that is the foundation of the development of the modern evolutionary theory. What can we learn from the study of the natural system and its related disciplines in the field of social thinking in the adaptability of agents, in the face of adversity and bio- and sociodiversity? The high degree of entrepreneurship in Latin American countries is symptom of social resilience and adaptability. It is in adversity where more variety of behavior is present as well as higher conditions for stressing challenges. Since conventional theory of rational tradeoffs is insufficient, this raises a challenge to future research considering evolutionary thought as an alternative to studying systems with high levels of necessity-based entrepreneurship, high inequality but high degrees of happiness. It is surely a fruitful and interesting land.

Keywords : adaptation; adversity; entrepreneurship; formal enterprise; informal enterprise.

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