This paper makes a critical survey of some recent evolutionary economic literature dealing with industrial dynamics. Although the evolutionary models of industrial dynamics has explored the relationships among market structure and the innovation process within an analytical context that emphasize non-linearity, behavioral asymmetries and the existence of selective process in the competitive dynamics of markets, have been capable of offering compatible results with industrial organization stylized facts, a lot of limitations in technical change description pointed out have able to alter in a crucial way the results attained.

O objetivo deste artigo é aperfeiçoar o modelo evolucionário de dinâmica industrial proposto por Nelson e Winter (1982b), introduzindo algumas modificações analíticas no processo que define o resultado da busca tecnológica da firma. A modificação proposta visa introduzir um mecanismo que realimente positivamente (a partir do próprio histórico tecnológico da firma) o processo estocástico que define o resultado das tentativas das firmas de obterem inovações/imitações via gasto em P&D. Com isso, pretende-se superar uma limitação que persiste mesmo nos modelos que trataram de superar outras simplificações do modelo e que ainda seguem muito de perto a formalização do processo de busca tecnológica do modelo Nelson-Winter. Por fim, tratar-se-á de apresentar algumas simulações preliminares que buscam avaliar as implicações dessa mudança no desempenho da indústria em geral e, em particular, para a estabilidade do desempenho competitivo das firmas em termos de market share.

This paper's aim is to present a theoretical extension of the evolutionary model of industrial dynamics proposed by Nelson and Winter (1982b), introducing some analytical modifications in the process that defines the result of the firm's technological search. It is introduced a mechanism that positevely reinforces the random process that defines the result of the firms' attempts to make innovations/imitations by P&D expenses. This new version intend to surpass a limitation persisting in the whole stream of evolutionary models. Although they have been eliminating other simplifications of the model, all of them still follow the Nelson-Winter model technological search process closely. Finally, it will be presented some preliminary simulations seeking to evaluate the implications of this change on the industry performance (price, productivity) and, particularly, on the stability of firms' competitive performance in terms of market share.