Social innovation and Nelson’s evolutionary legacy on social technologies

  1. Solano, Ernesto 1
  2. Gallego, Jorge 2
  3. Rubalcaba, Luis 1
  1. 1 Departament of Economics and Business, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
  2. 2 Department of Business Organization and GIPTIC, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Revista :
Journal of Industrial and Business Economics

ISSN : 0391-2078 ,  1972-4977

Año de publicación : 2025

Tipo : Artículo

DOI: 10.1007/S40812-025-00376-X GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_open Acceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en : Journal of Industrial and Business Economics

Resumen

This paper examines the relevance of Richard R. Nelson’s evolutionary economics for advancing the study of social innovation. While Nelson did not explicitly formulate a theory of social innovation, his concepts of social technologies, institutional dynamics, and collective learning offer a robust framework for understanding innovation as a collaborative, participatory, and context-dependent process. By situating innovation within broader institutional and societal contexts, Nelson’s approach shifts attention from isolated technical advances to the collective routines and governance arrangements that sustain systemic change. The analysis highlights how social technologies—standardized ways of organizing cooperation, decision-making, and value co-creation—interact with physical technologies to shape both economic and social outcomes. The paper explores how Nelson’s theoretical legacy provides important analytical tools for conceptualizing social innovation as a transformative process, illuminating how inclusive collaboration and institutional adaptation are central to addressing contemporary societal challenges.

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