Institutional Economics: Surveying the ‘Old’ and the ‘New’

Abstract

This paper surveys and compares the literature on the 'new' institutionalism (North, Williamson, etc.) with that of the 'old' (Veblen, Commons, Mitchell). A criterion for distinguishing these two schools is suggested, along with criticisms of the limitations of each. The 'new' institutionalism is associated with methodological individualism and the idea that the individual should be taken as given. Particular attention is paid to 'new' institutionalist treatments of markets and firms. The paper moves on to examine some 'old' institutionalist criticisms of 'economic man' as well as some negative features of the 'old' institutionalism. On the positive side, the latter is seen to have an 'evolutionary' dimension, related to modern work in the area of technological change.

O Utilitarismo de Jevons e a crítica de Veblen acerca da teoria do consumo

“…É difícil até mesmo conceber uma unidade de prazer ou de sofrimento; mas é o montante desses sentimentos que está nos induzindo a comprar e vender, tomar emprestado e emprestar, trabalhar e repousar, produzir e consumir; e é a partir dos efeitos quantitativos dos sentimentos que devemos estimar seus montantes comparativos (JEVONS, 1996, p. 52 Hodgson (1993Hodgson ( , 1998Hodgson ( , 2000Hodgson ( , 2007Hodgson ( , 2009); Dequech (2002a e b); Conceição (2002Conceição ( , 2007 O autor também deixa claro que os rituais religiosos estão ligados ao ócio vicário, sendo esses fortes indícios de um consumo vicário de tempo. A necessidade de se reafirmar como classe fez emergir hábitos de pensamentos que impuseram à sociedade uma honrosa maneira de demonstração pecuniária por meio do ócio e do consumo (vicário e conspícuo).…”

Political Institutions and Conservation Outcomes: Wildlife Policy in Zambia

“…2 This section focuses on what they label rational choice institutionalism and the new institutionalism in economics. Many names have been applied to the analysis of institutions using a rational choice approach, including neo-institutional economics, the new institutional economics, the economics of institutions, the new economics of organization and the new institutionalism (Hall and Taylor 1994;Hodgson, 1993;Thelen and Steinmo 1992). 3 Buchanan, Tollison, and Tullock (1980) presented the view that governments would seek to augment their own power regardless of economic efficiency.…”

Socially Responsible Management as a Basis for Sound Business in the Family Firm

“…The most widespread underpinning philosophy of modern business worldwide is arguably neo-classical (micro-)economics, Hodgson (1993). Within that view of the world, most would accept that the prevailing core objective is the maximisation of one or more key economic variables such as profit and shareholder wealth.…”