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Was Frank Knight an Institutionalist?

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  • Pier Francesco Asso
  • Luca Fiorito

Abstract

This paper critically examines Geoffrey Hodgson's provocative claim that Frank Knight was a member of the American institutionalist school in the interwar years. In the first section of the paper we provide a definition of institutionalism and emphasize its meaning from a historiographic point of view. The second and third sections analyse the two main methodological struggles between Knight and the institutionalists, namely, the debate during the early 1920s over the use of instinct theory as an explanation of economic behaviour, and the subsequent campaign led by Knight in the late 1920s and early 1930s against the behaviourist wing of American institutionalism a la Copeland and Ayres. The fourth section deals with Knight's own brand of institutionalism. Our main conclusions are that, even if Knight's approach to the study of economic behaviour shows significant affinities with American institutionalism, he was not—both sociologically and in terms of his philosophical premises—an institutionalist.

Suggested Citation

  • Pier Francesco Asso & Luca Fiorito, 2008. "Was Frank Knight an Institutionalist?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 59-77.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:20:y:2008:i:1:p:59-77
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250701661822
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rutherford,Malcolm, 1996. "Institutions in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521574471, September.
    2. Frank H. Knight, 1922. "Ethics and the Economic Interpretation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 36(3), pages 454-481.
    3. Warren J. Samuels, 1992. "The Knight-Ayres Correspondence: The Grounds of Knowledge and Social Action," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics, chapter 9, pages 154-200, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 1999. "Evolution and Institutions," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1481.
    5. repec:eme:rhet11:s0743-4154(03)22008-3 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Asso, Pier Francesco & Fiorito, Luca, 2004. "Human Nature and Economic Institutions: Instinct Psychology, Behaviorism, and the Development of American Institutionalism," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 445-477, December.
    7. Malcolm Rutherford, 2000. "Institutionalism Between the Wars," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 291-303, June.
    8. Malcolm Rutherford, 2004. "Institutional Economics: The Term And Its Meanings," Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, in: A Research Annual, pages 179-184, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    9. Knight, Frank H., 1922. "Ethics and the Economic Interpretation," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 36, pages 454-481, May.
    10. Pier Francesco Asso & Luca Fiorito, 2004. "Lawrence Kelso Frank's Proto-Ayresian Dichotomy," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 557-578, Fall.
    11. Rutherford, Malcolm, 2002. "Morris A. Copeland: A Case Study in the History of Institutional Economics," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 261-290, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Luca Fiorito, 2015. "A Certain Amount of ‘Recantation'. On the Origins of Frank H. Knight’s Antipositivism," Department of Economics University of Siena 705, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    2. Luca Fiorito & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2011. "Beyond Legal Relations: Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld's Influence on American Institutionalism," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 199-222.
    3. Luca Fiorito, 2009. "The Institutionalists’ Reaction to Chamberlin’s 'Theory of Monopolistic Competition'," Department of Economics University of Siena 560, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    4. Luca Fiorito & Sebastiano Nerozzi, 2016. "Chicago Economics in the Making, 1926-1940. A Further Look at US Interwar Pluralism," Department of Economics University of Siena 733, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    5. Spender, J. C., 2024. "Simon and Knight," MPRA Paper 120891, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology

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