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This paper adopts an evolutionary institutionalist approach to explain the persistent popularity of sports in the USA. Veblen's writing in Theory of the Leisure Class suggests two cultural and economic functions of modern sports: as a mode of preservation of leisure class values and as a means of conspicuous waste. Our analysis emphasises the role of sports as an institution for the preservation of leisure class values in general, and what Veblen terms 'predatory prowess' in particular. We identify several contemporary examples of Veblenian cultural traits that explain the affinity for sports in America and illustrate the continued applicability of Veblen's analysis. Finally, we offer support for the Veblenian view by expanding the scope of our argument to the broader evolutionary institutionalist literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does Dewey's account of social reality acknowledge sufficiently its practical dimensions or does his notion of social structure, like Veblen's, remain ultimately ideational or mentalistic? Many aspects of the relationship between Dewey and Veblen have been explored previously, but this fundamental issue has been left unaddressed. In this article I concentrate on elaborating relevant aspects of Dewey's contribution, such as his interpretation of habit, instinct, impulse, character, deliberation, choice, custom and growth. His views regarding the possibilities for (and the nature of) the intelligent reform of social institutions are also reviewed. I show that Dewey does acknowledge a significant practical dimension to human existence but then demonstrate that his conception of human sociality and social order ultimately remain aligned with Veblen's in being predominantly ideational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I respond to Tony Lawson's 'What is this 'School' called neoclassical economics?' Lawson's paper is provocative because it reformulates neoclassical economics, based on Veblen's original intent, as a mismatch created by recognising the value of an evolutionary approach to the economy whilst remaining over-reliant on elements of a 'taxonomic' approach. For Lawson many heterodox economists may be neoclassical under this description. I argue that there is clearly a case to be heard but that the reformulation of the neoclassical raises a number of issues. There are issues concerning the specific critique of the current usage of the term 'neoclassical'--regarding genealogy and meaning. There are specific issues regarding the further development of the new (old Veblen) definition of the neoclassical: how clear is the definition in a practical context as a way to identify a 'neoclassical group', based on the commitments of the critique and the definition, what does it mean to be 'more realistic', and what is the strategic value of such a provocation for heterodoxy? I argue that the combination of these are reasons for more consideration of issues of social ontology not less insofar as the terms of the argument are incomplete, and this invites both Lawson and those he is criticising to progress the argument, particularly on method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide an interpretation of Veblen’s theory of economic crises, based on the view that banking policy is a major factor in generating crises. It will be shown that, in Veblen’s thought, crises may emerge due to the banking system’s non-accommodating behaviour according to the following sequence: as firms are not homogeneous, the credit system spontaneously tends to help bigger firms increase in size, due to the increase in their capital turnover, which allows them to produce and sell before their competitors. This produces two effects: (i) the reduction in profits of the smaller firms (or their bankruptcy) generates a decline of employment and output while, at the same time, (ii) the increase in the industrial concentration ratio produces a rise in prices and a consequent drop in real wages. This in turn reduces total demand for consumption goods, thus worsening entrepreneurs’ expectations and having an adverse effect on production and investment by firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Veblen's analysis of technological change. I claim that, rather than succumbing to the traditional criticisms, his approach founders due to his failure to fully articulate a social ontology. Whilst Veblen's analysis of his own time remains in many ways compelling, this failure creates a gap between meta-theoretical promise and current theoretical results. I show how work in the social studies of technology has successfully avoided the ontological problems associated with Veblenian economics. This success is tempered by the fact that the field has not yet provided an appropriate framework to systematise the ways in which technical innovations transform social relations in ways that are beyond conscious control and manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the origins and continued relevance of Clarence Ayres’ definition of technology as a process involving both physical tools and a scientific method of reasoning, where science is understood to achieve cross-cultural explanatory power by virtue of technological validation. Ayres’ concept of technology derived from his training as a Pragmatist and was primarily philosophical rather than descriptive, but is congruent with the work of modern historians of technology and remains useful in addressing a variety of concerns about both the promise and dangers of technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most social theorists agree with Adam Smith's assertion that ‘consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production’, with technology serving as a means to that end. Marx acknowledged the great benefits that capitalism's unprecedented technological dynamism has brought to humanity. For Marx, however, the ‘end and purpose’ of capitalist production is the accumulation of surplus value. From this perspective technology in capitalism is, first and foremost, a means to capital's end, valorisation, with technological change furthering human ends in a profoundly partial and precarious manner. This paper reconstructs Marx's argument in favour of this general thesis. It concludes with a discussion of three illustrations. When technological development is subsumed under the valorisation imperative, technological change in the workplace will tend to reinforce coercive and exploitative social relations. Full development of the immense potential of network technologies will be systematically hampered, and technological change will tend to generate overaccumulation and financial crises. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 1950s, the lifecycle hypothesis has been the dominant explanation for the 'inverse U' in household wealth accumulation. This paper advances an alternative explanation, rooted in the ideas of Veblen, that emphasises the role of lifestyle conformity: Because people tend to adopt lifestyles common to their social group and modify them in standard ways as they age, lifecycle norms impart a certain order to the accumulation of assets and liabilities, which enables people to 'do' lifecycle saving via habitual thinking. After laying out the argument conceptually, the paper provides empirical evidence on the role of conformity in lifecycle saving and discusses its contribution to the current low saving rate in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, competence/capability has been introduced as a rival and as a complement to the idea of transaction-costs as the foundation for a modem theory of the firm. However, while the competence-based approach may be inspired by evolutionary economics, it does not, in its current form, provide an evolutionary theory of the firm. To transform this competence-based approach into an evolutionary theory, the connection between the firm and Veblen's concept of social knowledge is more fully developed. Once established, the evolutionary theory of the firm is utilised to bypass Marshall's reconciliation problem and solve Cournot's Dilemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]