My current research focuses on the theoretical and methodological foundations of institutional and evolutionary economics. How are institutions built up and sustained? What are their economic and other effects? How do they evolve? This research agenda has immediate applications for the understanding of learning, routines, technological change, and economic development.

One focus is on the theory and nature of the firm, and its place in a broader theory of institutions and institutional change.

Another focus is on the evolution of institutions, the application of Darwinian principles to socio-economic evolution, the conditions underlying increasing socio-economic complexity, and the impact of increasing complexity in capitalist development.

With several of my PhD students I am exploring ways in which insights from institutional and evolutionary economics can help our understanding of economic performance. These empirical research projects include the investigation of routinisation and niche-construction in firms, the degree to which firms adapt to change, and the role of institutional complementarities in firm development.

This research is carried out within the Centre for Research in Institutional Economics at the University of Hertfordshire.