Minerva
Ulrich Witt
Professor of Economics
Past Director of the Evolutionary Economics Group,
Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena

former Evolutionary Economics Group

The Evolutionary Economics Group started in 1996 shortly after Ulrich Witt, coming from the University of Freiburg, was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute for Research into Economic Systems as the institute was called initially. It was later re-named Max Planck Institute of Economics (2005-2014). The group was one out of four research groups that have been active over the institute´s existence. The group was closed down at the end of Witt´s term as director end of 2013.

Over the years, some 50 researchers have joined the group temporarily for periods from half a year up to several years (see the list of alumni below). In addition, a large number of international visitors were hosted by the group and interacted during temporary stays in seminars and research projects.

The group’s research activities focused on the systematic changes that economies undergo at the level of institutions, production, commerce, and consumption. Center stage were the behavioral, organizational, and technological aspects of the historical transformations and their complex causes and constraints both in physical and social terms. The approach to evolutionary economics chosen by the group was informed by an interdisciplinary exchange based on a consilience concept for the (evolutionary) sciences. The activities of the group have been documented in detail in bi-annual reports published by the institute.

  • Dr. Luciano Andreozzi
  • Prof. Dr. Matteo Barigozzi
  • Chad M. Baum
  • Dr. Naomi Beck
  • Dr. Saradindu Bhaduri
  • Dr. Martin Binder
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Brenner
  • Prof. Dr. Tom Brökel
  • Dr. Stephan Bruns
  • Prof. Dr. Guido Bünstorf
  • Dr. Matthias Bürger
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Chai
  • Dr. Tommaso Ciarli
  • Dr. Alexander Coad
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Cordes
  • Alexander Fink, Ph.D.
  • Dr. Burkhard Flieth
  • Dr. Dirk Fornahl
  • Dr. Alexander Frenzel Baudisch
  • Dr. Matthias Geißler
  • Dr. Christian Gross
  • Prof. Dr. Christina Günther
  • Prof. Dr. Reinoud Joosten
  • Dr. Wolfhard Kaus
  • Dr. Leonhard K. Lades
  • Dr. André Lorentz
  • Dr. Corinna Manig
  • Prof. Dr. Alessio Moneta
  • Prof. Peter Murmann
  • Dr. Uta-Maria Niederle
  • Klaus Rathe
  • Dr. Michael Reksulak
  • Dr. Wilhelm Ruprecht
  • Dr. Dr. Christian Sartorius
  • Franz Schaper
  • Dr. Silke Scheer
  • Dr. Christian Schubert
  • Georg Schwesinger
  • Dr. Paolo Seri
  • Dr. Silke Stahl-Rolf
  • Dr. Guang-Zhen Sun
  • Dr. Deborah Tappi
  • Dr. Benjamin Volland
  • Prof. Dr. Georg von Wangenheim
  • Dr. Hagen Worch
  • Dr. Julia Sophie Wörsdorfer
  • Dr. Christian Zellner