The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics

In this article, I reconstruct John R. Commons’ theory of institutional evolution: I draw a trajectory from where a novel principle at the micro level reached a compromise with old principles at the macro level. In the process, the uniqueness of Commons’ evolutionary theory is highlighted and a forg...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kota Kitagawa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Recherche & Régulation 2016-12-01
Series:Revue de la Régulation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/regulation/12079
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832577879327637504
author Kota Kitagawa
author_facet Kota Kitagawa
author_sort Kota Kitagawa
collection DOAJ
description In this article, I reconstruct John R. Commons’ theory of institutional evolution: I draw a trajectory from where a novel principle at the micro level reached a compromise with old principles at the macro level. In the process, the uniqueness of Commons’ evolutionary theory is highlighted and a forgotten challenge for modern evolutionary and institutional economics is uncovered: the need to explore the spiritual driving forces in history in a specific time and space. In drawing the trajectory in Commons’ centerpiece work Institutional Economics (IE), the following two points are highlighted. First, “institutions” themselves (defined as “going concerns” where the collective action controls member actions), carry novel principles and evolve through their diffusion process. The novel principles discussed here are industrial democracy and safety. Second, the spiritual driving force unique to the era pushed ahead the evolution and diffusion of the institution. This force is similar to a religious devotion to industrial democracy and safety. In order to confirm these “genuine” unique aspects, I compare Commons’ theory with French modern institutionalism and with modern evolutionary economics reconsidering old institutionalism.
format Article
id doaj-art-29a4f7f99a4d480dac155f1f8a4cc3ec
institution Kabale University
issn 1957-7796
language English
publishDate 2016-12-01
publisher Association Recherche & Régulation
record_format Article
series Revue de la Régulation
spelling doaj-art-29a4f7f99a4d480dac155f1f8a4cc3ec2025-01-30T14:26:51ZengAssociation Recherche & RégulationRevue de la Régulation1957-77962016-12-012010.4000/regulation.12079The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional EconomicsKota KitagawaIn this article, I reconstruct John R. Commons’ theory of institutional evolution: I draw a trajectory from where a novel principle at the micro level reached a compromise with old principles at the macro level. In the process, the uniqueness of Commons’ evolutionary theory is highlighted and a forgotten challenge for modern evolutionary and institutional economics is uncovered: the need to explore the spiritual driving forces in history in a specific time and space. In drawing the trajectory in Commons’ centerpiece work Institutional Economics (IE), the following two points are highlighted. First, “institutions” themselves (defined as “going concerns” where the collective action controls member actions), carry novel principles and evolve through their diffusion process. The novel principles discussed here are industrial democracy and safety. Second, the spiritual driving force unique to the era pushed ahead the evolution and diffusion of the institution. This force is similar to a religious devotion to industrial democracy and safety. In order to confirm these “genuine” unique aspects, I compare Commons’ theory with French modern institutionalism and with modern evolutionary economics reconsidering old institutionalism.https://journals.openedition.org/regulation/12079collective actionJ.R. Commonsleader roleswillingnessinstitutional diffusionprinciples
spellingShingle Kota Kitagawa
The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
Revue de la Régulation
collective action
J.R. Commons
leader roles
willingness
institutional diffusion
principles
title The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
title_full The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
title_fullStr The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
title_full_unstemmed The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
title_short The Driving Forces of Diffusion in John R. Commons’ Institutional Economics
title_sort driving forces of diffusion in john r commons institutional economics
topic collective action
J.R. Commons
leader roles
willingness
institutional diffusion
principles
url https://journals.openedition.org/regulation/12079
work_keys_str_mv AT kotakitagawa thedrivingforcesofdiffusioninjohnrcommonsinstitutionaleconomics
AT kotakitagawa drivingforcesofdiffusioninjohnrcommonsinstitutionaleconomics