This paper deals with the nature of the economic growth process, given by the interaction of institutional and technological change, the role of firms and institutions. This analytical perspective is present in both the evolutionary and the institutionalist approach. They both agree in two points of view: a) development is a complex process which claims for an inquiry about the conditions allowing for advancing through historically differentiated avenues; and b) technological change, firms and institutions jointly define specific development patterns. From this perspective the contributions of Douglass North, Matthews, Zysman and Nelson are discussed.
Institutional economics; Evolutionary economics; Economic development