taxonomy

The taxonomic method is an important empirical approach in evolutionary analysis which corresponds to the fundamental ontological property of >singularity. It is based on certain criteria of similarity between >structure and of identifying common origins of structure. Every taxonomy therefore operates in both dimensions of diachronic and synchronic analysis.

The criteria of similarity can be grounded in different theoretical arguments. The most important ones are similarity of form and similarity of function. In the early literature on economic and social systems, these were called "real types" and "ideal types". In biology, similarity of form is the object of morphological analysis, whereas similarity of function is the object of evolutionary theorizing. Both concur in the construction of phylogeny (diachrony) and identification of species (synchrony).

Taxonomic research in EE is very important in analyzing structures of economic systems. For example, to explain technological development it is indispensible to understand the common origin of particular >technologies (like the different versions of the combustion engine) diachronically. These origins define base technologies that internally select further technological solutions. Synchronically, the technological problem to move vehicles with high speed in space may give rise to many alternative base technologies of engines, which show certain similarities because of the structural constraints of the problem. This taxonomic analysis is also important to understand competitive dynamics and market structures in the more narrow sense.

In a similar way, taxonomies can be constructed for >institutions. It is further important to distinguish different levels of taxonomic analysis, in particular for configurations of networks and for structures (hence, micro- and macro-level). Taxonomic analysis can discover certain regularities of stability and coordination among configurations of structures, some of which are a long-standing part of economic knowledge, as the long-run incompatibility of the market economy and political systems that severely suppress individual freedom. On the micro-level, taxonomic analysis focuses on phenomena as the coordination between certain organizational features of the labour market and the capital market, intermediated by the governance structure of the firm. These regularities allow to define certain patterns of change in economic systems.

Basic References

Taxonomic research in economics has been neglected for a long time after the conclusion of the "historicism" debate in the early 20th century. An example for an EE taxonomic approach in technology analysis is
Pier Paolo Saviotti, Technological Evolution, Variety and the Economy, Cheltenham: Elgar, 1996.

In recent EE research, there are also direct applications of biological taxonomic methods on industrial evolution, as the work by Esben Andersen and Ian McCarthy:
Andersen's industrial trees
papers by Ian McCarthy
introduction into cladistic methodology
resources on biological taxonomy

Semantic Field
evolution   singularity
structure
taxonomy