Sustainable development: an evolutionary economic approach

Abstract

In this paper, it is argued that the view of the economic sphere as a closed system cannot appropriately deal with the issue of sustainable development. Evolutionary economics is then presented as a fruitful alternative to apprehend the interactions between the economic, the human and the natural spheres. This emerging field offers both a firm theoretical basis (based upon recent developments in physics, biology, dynamic systems theory and the sciences of complexity) and practical, pragmatic answers to the implementation of a sustainable path of development. This is further illustrated with the presentation of the evolutionary logic of a multi-level common regime. Such a regime could be an institutional counterpart of social and environmental dynamics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Is informality a barrier to sustainable development?

“…The mainstream economic paradigm prioritizes the economy over society and the environment, and it fails to acknowledge and appreciate the human and natural dimensions of the economy (Griethuysen, 2002). However, it is crucial to recognize that the economy is nested in society to serve society, and society depends on the environment (Baumgartner & Korhonen, 2010).…”

“…The neoliberal paradigm has exacerbated the environmental disruption and social inequalities between countries and led to an unsustainable development path. In this regard, Griethuysen (2002) argues that evolutionary economics is a better approach to understand the dynamics of economic development in its eco‐social sense. The evolutionary economic approach sees the economy as a set of self‐organizing systems instead of self‐correcting mechanisms.…”

Definition and measurement of the circular economy’s regional impact

“…In general terms, we can state that the CE exists at the intersection of the environmental and economic aspects of the sustainable development framework (Bina 2013;Van Griethuysen 2002). The introduction of the concept has been attributed to the seminal works of Pearce and Turner (1990), where the term CE was applied to explain how economies work while considering the important implications of the environment-economy interaction.…”

Theoretical Aspects of Sustainable Development (SD) and Industrial Energy (IE)

“…Another approach considered in the health threat where harmful emission, hazardous wastes and radiations have been considered in every kWh. P. van Griethuysen in [8] evaluated the economic approach of sustainable development. With this approach, the effect of the economy was felt whereby tasks in every kWh, trades' turnovers of industries have been considered.…”