Routines

Routines have an important role in evolutionary economics. They are a key source of behavioral continuity, suggesting they are central to retention (inheritance). Because they also provide the stability required for selection to work, they also matter for selection. Routines point to possible mechanisms of retention in the realm of the economy, i.e., the replication of routines. Because theory on mechanisms of retention is still less developed than theory on the mechanisms of selection and variation in the economy, routines hold one of the keys to an explanation of economic, industrial, and organizational change by an evolutionary process. The chapter addresses the role of routines in evolutionary economics, and mechanisms that drive the variation, selection, and retention of routines, as well as their interdependencies.