The Veblen-Commons Award is presented annually by the Association for Evolutionary Economics in recognition of outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of evolutionary institutional economics.[1][2][3][4] It is the Association’s highest honor, named after two key originators of the evolutionary-institutionalist tradition, Thorstein B. Veblen and John R. Commons.
Evolutionary institutional economics
editAccording to evolutionary institutionalism, economics “is the science of social provisioning.”[5] To be sure, markets are important, but the market system is only one institution that influences the social provisioning process. Moreover, that system can take countless forms and is shaped by history and culture. Thus, understanding culture—how it evolves and its role in economic life—is a foundational element of evolutionary institutionalism.[6]
Empiricism is also a vital part of the evolutionary-institutionalist tradition. In fact, along with Veblen and Commons, Wesley C. Mitchell—founder of the National Bureau of Economic Research—was a major early contributor to institutionalism. Since the days of Veblen, Commons, and Mitchell, evolutionary institutionalists have sought to collect and use economic and social data (quantitative and qualitative in nature) in service of both scientific understanding and practical problem solving.[7]
Award recipients
editThe Veblen-Commons Award has been given since 1969, with the first recipient being Allan Gruchy. Other early recipients include Gardiner Means, Gunnar Myrdal, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Rexford Tugwell.
In the 1980s, J. Fagg Foster,[8] David Hamilton, Harry Trebing, Marc Tool, and Wendell Gordon were among the winners. In the 1990s, winners included Wallace Peterson, Robert Heilbroner,[9] and Hyman Minsky.
More recent winners include Anne Mayhew, Edythe Miller, F. Gregory Hayden, Willam Dugger, Glen Atkinson, William Waller, Jim Peach, Janet Knoedler, and James K. Galbraith.
A detailed description of the award,[10] biography of the current winner, and list of past recipients [11] can be found on the AFEE website.[12]
References
edit- ^ "AFEE Bylaws". afee.net.
- ^ "American Economic Association". www.aeaweb.org. U.S.: American Economic Association. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
- ^ Hodgson, Geoffrey (2012-06-01). "Toward an Evolutionary and Moral Science: Remarks upon Receipt of the Veblen-Commons Award". Journal of Economic Issues. 46 (2): 265–275. doi:10.2753/JEI0021-3624460202. hdl:2299/8785. JSTOR 23265007. S2CID 145574968. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
- ^ Bush, Paul D. (2009-01-01). "The Neoinstitutionalist Theory of Value: Remarks upon Receipt of the Veblen-Commons Award". Journal of Economic Issues - J ECON ISSUE. pp. 293–307. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
- ^ Allan G. Gruchy, The Reconstruction of Economics: An Analysis of the Fundamentals of Institutional Economics (New York, Greenwood Press, 1987), p. 25.
- ^ Gruchy, The Reconstruction of Economics, p. 17; Anne Mayhew, “An Introduction to Institutional Economics: Tools for Understanding Evolving Economies,” The American Economist (2018, v. 63, n. 1, pp. 3-17).
- ^ Mayhew, “An Introduction to Institutional Economics,” p. 4.
- ^ "J. Fagg Foster - Biography". jfaggfoster.org.
- ^ "The Veblen-Commons Award: Robert L. Heilbroner". Gale (publisher). United States: Gale.
- ^ "Veblen-Commons Award". afee.net.
- ^ "Past Veblen-Commons Award Recipients". afee.net.
- ^ "Association for Evolutionary Economics". afee.net.
External links
edit- The Association for Evolutionary Economics (publisher of award)
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