This is a review of Joel Mokyr's fascinating book entitled A Culture of Growth. The work is summarized, noting its focus on Darwin-style evolutionary explanations of cultural change. But Mokyr's emphasis on cultural entrepreneurs and positive feedbacks in the procreation of ideas is insufficient to explain the origins of modern economic growth. Too much explanatory weight is placed on too few extraordinary people. It is argued that Mokyr's analysis should be extended, to bring the evolution of institutions, as well as the evolution of culture, into the picture at an additional level. The role of inter-state rivalry and exogenous shocks has also to be underlined. This kind of analysis can be developed within the framework of generalized Darwinism, which Mokyr himself adopts. This is a major and highly stimulating book.

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文化与制度：乔尔·莫基尔的《成长的文化》评论

这是对 Joel Mokyr 的迷人著作的评论，题为成长的文化。对这项工作进行了总结，并指出其侧重于对文化变革的达尔文式进化解释。但莫基尔对文化企业家的强调和对思想产生的积极反馈不足以解释现代经济增长的起源。太多的解释权放在了太少的非凡人物身上。有人认为，莫基尔的分析应该被扩展，以将制度的演变以及文化的演变带到一个额外的层面。还必须强调国家间竞争和外来冲击的作用。这种分析可以在莫基尔本人采用的广义达尔文主义的框架内发展。这是一本重要且极具启发性的书。