Evolutionary Systems and Long Run Economics

Using a framework based on evolutionary epistemology it is possible to compare theories of evolutionary systems and economic theories. The main points of the paper are: 1. To establish a taxonomy of evolutionary concepts at different levels of description (structure, organisation, function etc.) and complexity (from dynamical mechanics to intelligent systems). 2. To clarify some confusion normally made between organisation and structure, and between mechanical and semantic concepts of information. 3. To analyse the relationship between institutions and the concept of organisation of evolutionary theories. Economic theories aiming to study evolution at any epistemological point of view cannot avoid an analysis of institutions.