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Commons opens Institutional Economics by declaring : "My point of view is based on my participation in collective activities, from which 1 here derive a theory of the part played by collective action in control of individual action." This sentence well summarizes the three key elements of this book - its theoretical intent, the importance Commons gave to his own experience in institutional reform in shaping these ideas, and the focus on the concept of the institution as a collective constraint on individual action.
Such constraints, according to Commons, are required to create a workable economic system out of the conflicts of interests brought about by economic scarcity. In Commons' system, collective action operates through "working rules" : the body of statute and common law. customs. and common practices. These working rules affect economic outcomes by determining the nature of economic transactions undertaken by individuals and the terms on which they will be carried out.
They also evolve over time. Commons provides particularly insightful treatment of legislative and judicial decision making, and develops his analysis together with discussions of the history of economic thought. the history of court decision, and his own extensive experience. The work of John Commons has long been recognized as of great importance within the tradition of American institutional economics.
Historians of economic thought rank him along with Thorstein Veblen and Wesley Mitchell as a cofounder of institutionalism. emphasizing his empirical approach and active reformism. In recent years. his conceptual and theoretical contributions have taken on a new and broader significance. The new introductory essay by Malcolm Rutherford focuses on the overall conceptual framework of Institutional Economics and its present-day relevance for economists of all persuasions.