Transaction Economics of John R. Commons

Takahashi reconstructs the key blocks of one of the founders of the Institutional school, John R. Commons' theories of the evolution of capitalism and of institutional change by taking the concept of transaction as a central point of departure. It will interest researchers of institutional economics, political economy, heterodox economics.

Takahashi reconstructs the key blocks of one of the founders of the institutional school, John R. Commons' theories of the evolution of capitalism and of institutional change by taking the concept of transaction as a central point of departure.

Commons' theories continue to influence modern economics, and in this book, Takahashi scrutinizes his construction of transaction and its features and offers a reinterpretation of Commons' institutional economics and transaction economics. He then explores how Commons' analysis of going concerns (e.g., firms) has broader and deeper applications that extend to monetary policy, labor policy, and the business cycle. Takahashi examines how Commons' and Veblen's dynamic theories share cumulative causation. He closes by positing that Commons' transaction economics seeks "reasonable capitalism" through a virtuous cycle of reasonable value and generation of good business ethics.

This book will be attractive to researchers of institutional economics, political economy, heterodox economics, as well as the history of economic thought, law, and ethics.

Autorentext

Shingo Takahashi is a professor at the Tokyo College of Transport Studies, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. He has taught economics and the history of economic thought and studied the institutional economics of Commons for more than 20 years.

Inhalt

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART Institution

1. Theory of transactions: the base of transaction economics of John R. Commons

2. Theory of going concern: organization and institution

PART Basis of cumulative causation: markets and business organizations

3. Pricing theory: pricing by scarcity, abundance, and stabilization

4. Business cycle theory: expectations and cumulative causation

PART Stabilization policy

5. Futurity and monetary policy: money and credit management

6. Labor theory and labor policy: labor problems and social security

PART Reasonable capitalism

7. Theory of reasonable value: rationing transactions and institutional adjustment

8. Commons' transaction economics and new institutional economics: markets, organizations, and state

Conclusion