The focus of the conference is on the following six issues, which are pivotal to economic theory:

1) The ontological foundation of economic theory
Any theory has to specify its ontological foundation. A theory of economics has to be based on an
explicit statement of what constitutes the economy.

2) Population dynamics
If conceived as an endless number of human acts (actualisations of ideas or rules), the economy may
be analysed from a population theoretical perspective, where economic actors form part of a vast
number of populations. Conversely, a proper analysis of the economy does not allow an atomistic
perspective. The analysis of the dynamics of economic populations is of paramount importance.

3) The economic system and its limits
Economic acts take place in different fields of action: at one end, the field of the market (with the
highest degree of autonomy); at the other end, the field of political decision-making (with the lowest
degree of autonomy); and, in between, other fields of action, which are mainly characterised by being
neither the field of the market nor that of political decision-making. In a narrow sense, the economic
system is based on the market. Not all parts of the economy are of a systemic nature, however.
Demarcating the systemic parts of the economy is, thus, necessary for distinguishing between
endogenous and exogenous factors and also relevant to the discussion of different levels of
aggregation.

4) The societal embeddedness of economics
The economy – both the economic system and the parts of the economy which are not of a systemic
nature – is embedded in a wider societal context, i.e., in an interplay between economic and political,
cultural, environmental and demographic social factors. The economically relevant interfaces between
the societal sectors need to be specified. In this respect, the problem of economic coordination is of
central importance.

5) Secular and recurrent factors of economic growth
The economic dynamics are the outcome of both secularly and cyclically or, rather, recurrently
working factors. Evolution is a cumulative process creating sequences of trajectories in a recurrent
pattern but under secularly changing conditions. Ordinary growth accounting based on production
factor analysis is unable to provide a satisfactory analysis of this process. Hence, there is a need for a
theory based on a clear distinction between secular and cyclical factors.

6) Cycles and waves
Business cycles may be conceived as the unintended patterns of the systemic evolution of the
economic system. They may be analysed as population dynamics, i.e., as the changing distribution of
different types of behaviour in a vast number of economic populations. Business cycles are embedded
in a pattern of changing growth regimes (i.e., long waves) governed by changing configurations of the
dominant technological constellation.

Due to force majeure the two last issues will be treated in the last lecture

Program
Aarhus University, building 1324, room 011

Thursday June 13th
13 -17 (1-5 p.m.)
13 Welcome
13.10 Keynote speech
Professor Kurt Dopfer, University of St. Gallen: The ontological foundations of economic theory
13.40 Discussant: Professor Finn Olesen, Aalborg University
13.55 Discussion open to all participants
14.10 Associate Professor Matthias Heymann, Aarhus University: Engineering as a Socio-technical Process
in evolutionary economics
14.40 Discussant: associate professor John Howells, Aarhus University
14.55 Discussion open to all participants
15.10 Coffee
15.40 Professor Thorbjørn Knudsen, University of Southern Denmark: Adaptation on Multiple Levels
16.10 Discussant: ProfessorNiels Kærgaard, University of Copenhagen
16.25 Discussion of the three lectures of the day open to all participants

Friday, June 14th
9-12.30 (9 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.)
(The session begins at 9 sharp, not 9.15)
9.30 Keynote speech
Professor Ulrich Witt, Director of the Evolutionary Economics Group at the Max Planck Institute of
Economics, University of Jena: Cultural Evolution, Economic Growth and Human Welfare -- A Drift
Process?
10.00 Discussant: Associate professor Peter Kesting, Aarhus University
10.15 Discussion open to all participants

10.30 Coffee
11.00 Director Jørgen Fink, Centre for Business History, Aarhus University: Growth regime and helix
of growth
11.30 Discussant: Professor Peder J. Pedersen, Aarhus University
11.45 Discussion of the six lectures of the conference open to all participants