History-Friendly Modeling: An Evolutionary Tool for Strategy Research

Abstract

History-friendly models have been increasingly adopted to study innovation and industry evolution, the catch-up of latecomer firms and countries, and public policies. However, they have been used less in the field of strategic management. In this article, we first provide a review of the history-friendly literature, identifying its intellectual roots in evolutionary economics. Then, we discuss three possible motivations that could explain the history-friendly paradox. Finally, we propose history-friendly models as a promising tool to study current research questions in strategy.