Legal Institutionalism – A Multi–Disciplinary Approach to the Analysis of Modern Economies

The legal concepts that can fundamentally inform the economics of institutionsIn Legal Institutionalism, the eminent economist Geoffrey Hodgson proposes a new analytic approach for understanding modern economic institutions. Law helps to constitute some of the key features of modern market economies. Moreover, there is evidence that many people believe that obeying the law is important in itself, especially when it is deemed just, legitimate, and uncorrupt. Consequently, he argues, the role of law must be considered in analyses of the nature and dynamics of modern economic institutions and the motivations of economic agents. Hodgson lays out the basic approach and intellectual assumptions of legal institutionalism, citing such thinkers as Adam Smith and Karl Marx as well as insights from institutional economics, law, philosophy, psychology, and social theory. He considers how legal institutions emerged and evolved throughout history, stressing their importance in large-scale, complex economies. Informal rules and relations are vital as well, he explains, but these often rely on face-to-face contact, with smaller numbers of people. He shows that by examining relevant legal rules and relations alongside important informal rules, we can improve our understanding of the nature and role of property, contracts, money, and firms. Revisiting the socialist calculation debate on the feasibility of socialist planning, Hodgson argues that both sides paid insufficient attention to legal issues and underestimated the importance and inevitability of mixed economies. This milestone work by Hodgson has major implications for both theory and policy, suggesting new approaches to economic development, the theory of the firm, and countering the policy extremes of markets versus states.