CHAPTER 10
CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES
10.1 INTRODUCTION
There are a number of contemporary issues that we have not really discussed despite the size of this book. This is only due in part to a lack of space. Indeed, many of these issues are such that the best economic concepts and practices are only just emerging and many ideas are still subject to substantive debates. Nevertheless, it is important to round out this book by outlining these contemporary issues, as well as current thinking on how best to address them.
We provide an overview of some of these issues in this brief concluding chapter. Among the subjects that we briefly discuss are the following:
- evolutionary economics;
- path dependence and network effects;
- intellectual capital;
- value of information;
- investing in humans.
10.2 EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS
Evolutionary economics is basically concerned with situations where the economics of a situation evolves over time generally in a complex and adaptive fashion. If we were to examine evolutionary economics here, we would be particularly concerned with guidelines for success in industries subject to these characteristics. We would be especially concerned with such information and knowledge network issues as compatibility, interconnection, and interoperability, and how the influences of these issues, as well as coordination of pricing and quality of service, lead to emergence of a network of networks. A relatively good introductory treatment of the basic features on complex adaptive ...
