Richard R. Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1930-05-04)May 4, 1930 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 2025(2025-01-28) (aged 94) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Katherine Nelson (died 8/18) |
| Academic career | |
| Field | Evolutionary economics |
| Institutions | Columbia University |
| School or tradition | Evolutionary economics |
| Alma mater | Oberlin College Yale University |
Richard R. Nelson (May 4, 1930 – January 28, 2025) was an American economist and academic who was professor of economics atColumbia University.[1] He was one of the leading figures in the revival ofevolutionary economics thanks to his seminal bookAn Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982) written jointly withSidney G. Winter.[2] He was also known for his work on industry, economic growth, thetheory of the firm, and technical change. The book he edited,National innovation systems: A comparative analysis (1996) is one of the most influential in innovation studies. Nelson died on January 28, 2025, at the age of 94.[3]
Nelson gained a B.A. atOberlin College in 1952, and a Ph.D. at.Yale University in 1956.[4]
Nelson worked as
Nelson was the George Blumenthal Professor Emeritus of International and Public Affairs, Business, and Law, and the director of the Program on Science, Technology and Global Development at Columbia'sThe Earth Institute. He was also a part-time faculty in theManchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR, formerly known as PREST),University of Manchester.[6] Previously he was professor atOberlin College,Carnegie Mellon University, andYale University (1968–1986) where he was the director of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies (1981–1986).
Nelson cooperated withErik Reinert and hisheterodox economics networkThe Other Canon Foundation.[7]
In 1977 Nelson wrote an essay, The Moon and the Ghetto: An Essay on Public Policy Analysis,[8] which asked "If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we solve the problem of the ghetto?" He argued that public policy progress was often hampered by the partial, and often faulty, conceptualisation of problems and solutions by the different decision-making parties. Economists, public policy experts and technologists all understand problems within their own terms of reference, and thus challenge the validity of other perspectives. This leads to muddling of values and facts, and to internecine policy warfare. Nelson recommended open-minded dialogue and a sequential, experimental approach to hard problems.[9][10][11]
In 2008 Nelson wrote on “technological paradigms”. He believed the power of these varied greatly across fields of practice, in the sense that in certain field's progress has been much more rapid than in others where comparable resources have been applied to the effort. He proposed that one important factor in this is the extent to which the technology in a field is controllable and replicable. Another factor is the strength of the supporting sciences. He argued that these factors are strongly intertwined with the causal arrows going both ways.[12]
Nelson won various awards.[13] In 2005 he was awarded the Leontief Prize presented by theGlobal Development and Environment Institute atTufts University. In 2006 he became the 27th laureate of the Honda Prize.
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