An analysis of the methodological evolution of original institutional economics: main foundations and dialogue with the contemporary epistemological debate
Name: EDUARDO HENRIQUE TANAKA MARTINS
Publication date: 30/11/2023
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALEXANDRE OTTONI TEATINI SALLES | Advisor |
Summary: The aim of this dissertation is to provide a systematic study of the methodological foundations proposed by the Original Institutional School based on the seminal contributions made by Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929). Building on the initial concepts put forth by this author, this work seeks to advance the discussion by integrating insights from contemporary institutionalist authors and those belonging to related heterodox streams of Original Institutionalism. To achieve this, we first discuss various scientific and methodological conceptions within the evolution of the philosophy of science, especially the evolutionary approach proposed by Charles Darwin (1809-1882), as well as the positivist tradition and its critical development through the works of Karl Popper (1902-1994), Milton Friedman (1912-1906), Imre Lakatos (1922-1974), Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), and Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994).Subsequently, the analysis centers on Thorstein Veblen's (1857-1929) methodological writings, aiming to position his proposal of an evolutionary economics within the history of the philosophy of science. The dissertation also endeavors to argue how the author laid the groundwork for and anticipated the development of various significant topics for the methodological and economic discourse in the 21st century. Finally, it explores contemporary theoretical dialogues with Veblenian evolutionary methodological thought, connecting them to the works of authors such as Geoffrey Hodgson (1946- ), Tony Lawson (1944- ), Sheila Dow (1949- ), Alain Herscovici (1957- ), among others.The primary conclusion of the dissertation is that over more than a century of theoretical development, Original Institutional Economics possesses a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological nature that can contribute to or align with the research of economists, even those who are not necessarily institutionalists, in interpreting current socio-economic issues in Economics.
