Evolutionary theory of technological change: State-of-the-art and new approaches

This paper, divided into four parts, intends to present the state-of-the-art on this debate and tries to answer the question on the validity of evolutionary models of technological change. After some introductory thoughts in the first part, it is tried in the second part to summarize in five points some of the still missing pieces to complete the puzzle to developing a firmly based Evolutionary Theory of Technological Change (ETTC). Each of these five points are then discussed more in detail in the third part, being also commented on briefly the most promising approaches under way. The fourth part with conclusions closes the article, making six fundamental theoretical considerations that were not yet accounted for in formal models and/or simulations of technological systems stand out.