Chapter 14: Journeying toward Institutionalism

I am extremely pleased to have been asked to comment on this paper, in which Geoff Hodgson looks back at his intellectual journey. He and I have known each other for many years, and since 2004 we have worked closely together on the Journal of Institutional Economics. Geoff is someone I admire and count as a friend.

Although this comment is in principle about Geoff, I am going to start out by talking about my own journey to institutionalism. For one thing, it would be foolish, and probably impossible, to undertake a careful analysis of Geoff’s work, if for no other reason than that Geoff can write books faster than I can read them. More than that, however, a comparison with my own journey may be instructive. Geoff and I have come ultimately to hold surprisingly close, though by no means identical, views on many issues relating to institutions and even methodology, despite have arrived from different – perhaps even diametrically opposite – directions.