Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, Evolution, FutureUniversity of Chicago Press, 22.09.2015 - 495 Seiten A few centuries ago, capitalism set in motion an explosion of economic productivity. Markets and private property had existed for millennia, but what other key institutions fostered capitalism’s relatively recent emergence? Until now, the conceptual toolkit available to answer this question has been inadequate, and economists and other social scientists have been diverted from identifying these key institutions. With Conceptualizing Capitalism, Geoffrey M. Hodgson offers readers a more precise conceptual framework. Drawing on a new theoretical approach called legal institutionalism, Hodgson establishes that the most important factor in the emergence of capitalism—but also among the most often overlooked—is the constitutive role of law and the state. While private property and markets are central to capitalism, they depend upon the development of an effective legal framework. Applying this legally grounded approach to the emergence of capitalism in eighteenth-century Europe, Hodgson identifies the key institutional developments that coincided with its rise. That analysis enables him to counter the widespread view that capitalism is a natural and inevitable outcome of human societies, showing instead that it is a relatively recent phenomenon, contingent upon a special form of state that protects private property and enforces contracts. After establishing the nature of capitalism, the book considers what this more precise conceptual framework can tell us about the possible future of capitalism in the twenty-first century, where some of the most important concerns are the effects of globalization, the continuing growth of inequality, and the challenges to America’s hegemony by China and others. |
Inhalt
Introduction | 1 |
Part I Discovering Capitalism | 23 |
Part II Capitalism and Beyond | 263 |
Glossary | 385 |
References | 393 |
473 | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, Evolution, Future Geoffrey M. Hodgson Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2015 |
Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, Evolution, Future Geoffrey M. Hodgson Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2016 |
Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, Evolution, Future Geoffrey M. Hodgson Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2015 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
argued assets authority become behavior capital capitalist century chapter claim commodity complex concept concerning consider contract cooperatives corporation costs countries cultural custom defined definition depends distinction economic economists effective emergence employee employment enforcement entity essence essential established evolution example exchange existence explain fact firm follow forces function further global groups growth Hayek Hence historical Hodgson human ideas important individual industrial inequality institutions interaction internal involves Italy knowledge labor lead less levels limited major markets Marx material means mechanisms models nature necessary noted organizations original ownership person physical political position possible problem production property rights question refer regarded relations relatively role rules simply social society specific structure theory things tion trade treated understand United University vital wage wealth worker wrote