Richard R. Nelson is an American professor of economics at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. He is one of the leading figures in the revival of evolutionary economics

Evolutionary economics

Evolutionary economics is part of mainstream economics as well as heterodox school of economic thought that is inspired by evolutionary biology...

 thanks to his seminal book An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982) written jointly with Sidney G. Winter

Sidney G. Winter

Sidney Graham Winter is an American economist and professor emeritus of management and technological change at University of Pennsylvania. He is one of the leading figures in the revival of evolutionary economics and publish at lot together with Richard R. Nelson.Winter was Chief Economist of the ...

. He is also renowned for his work on industry, economic growth, the theory of the firm

Theory of the firm

The theory of the firm consists of a number of economic theories that describe the nature of the firm, company, or corporation, including its existence, behavior, structure, and relationship to the market.-Overview:...

, and technical change.

Nelson is currently the George Blumenthal Professor Emeritus of International and Public Affairs, Business, and Law, and the director of the Program on Science, Technology and Global Development at Columbia's The Earth Institute

The Earth Institute

The Earth Institute was established at Columbia University in 1995. The research institute's stated mission is to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world's poor...

. He is also a part-time faculty in the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research is a research centre based in Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester, England....

 (MIoIR, formerly known as PREST), University of Manchester

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

. Previously he was professor at Oberlin College

Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

, Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, and Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 (1968–1986) where he was the director of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies (1981–1986).

He also has served as research economist and analyst at the Rand Corporation (1957–60, 1963–68), and at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 (1961–63).

In 2005 he was awarded the Leontief Prize presented by the Global Development and Environment Institute

Global Development and Environment Institute

The Global Development And Environment Institute is a research center at Tufts University founded in 1993. GDAE works to promote a better understanding of how societies can pursue their economic and community goals in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner...

 at Tufts University

Tufts University

Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...

. In 2006, he became the 27th laureate of the Honda Prize.

Nelson as well has cooperated with Erik Reinert and his heterodox economics

Heterodox economics

"Heterodox economics" refers to approaches or to schools of economic thought that are considered outside of "mainstream economics". Mainstream economists sometimes assert that it has little or no influence on the vast majority of academic economists in the English speaking world. "Mainstream...

 network The Other Canon Foundation.

Books

• (co-editor with Jan Fagerberg
  Jan Fagerberg
  Jan Fagerberg is professor at the University of Oslo, Norway.He is, or has been, affiliated with many institutions including: the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture , the Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy ; the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the...
  
   and David Mowery),The Oxford Handbook of Innovation (2005) ISBN 0199286809
• (editor), National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis (1993)
• Understanding Technical Change as an Evolutionary Process (1987) ISBN 0674019164
• (co-author with Sydney Winter), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982) ISBN 0674272285
• The Moon and the Ghetto (1977) ISBN 9780393091731