This paper gives a selective overview on contributions studying issues of complexity, near-decomposability and modularity
in relation to economic behaviour and the theory of the firm. In the first part the paper reviews contributions studying the
relationship between human problem solving in the face of complex problems and the emergence of specific technological and
organisational designs. The second part of the paper reviews recent research that has studied the impact of modular designs
in the organisation of production at the firm level on industrial organisation and dynamics. The paper draws some conclusions
on future avenues of research.
Keywords:Innovation decision, catching up, distance to frontier
Forschungsbereich:Industrie-, Innovations- und internationale Ökonomie