Contribution of Institutional Economics to Economic Thought

Abstract

It is seen that interest in the effects of human behavior on economic events and phenomena has been increasing in recent years. In this context, institutions where behaviors become a set of formal-informal rules that determine the boundaries of choice for the stakeholders of the society from thought to action and form the framework of individual action by gaining stability, are of great importance in terms of developing an economic thinking system compatible with the real world. With its dynamic perspective on economic events and phenomena, the institutional economic tradition has revealed important discoveries by evaluating the effects of institutions on the economic order from different perspectives and closed a major gap in this area. With this study, the historical adventure of institutional economics, which started with the pioneering studies that Veblen put forward on the basis of the Darwinian evolution approach, has been discussed from the perspective of old and new institutional economics. By presenting the contributions of the prominent representatives of the tradition to economic thought through labor included in the analysis, it is aimed to open a door from the perspective of institutionalized behavior to studies on the economic impact of human behavior. In addition, the evaluations for the sustainability of the institutional tradition were discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of the tradition in question were emphasized within the framework of today's prevailing economic approach.