Conceptualizing Capitalism

“Erudite and thought-provoking. . . . a stimulating, historically grounded exploration of the subject . . . rewarding.” —Financial Times

A few centuries ago, capitalism set in motion an explosion of economic productivity. Markets and private property had existed for millennia, but what other key institutions fostered capitalism’s relatively recent emergence?

With Conceptualizing Capitalism, Geoffrey M. Hodgson offers readers a more precise conceptual framework. Drawing on a new theoretical approach called legal institutionalism, Hodgson establishes that the most important factor in the emergence of capitalism is the constitutive role of law and the state. While private property and markets are central to capitalism, they depend upon the development of an effective legal framework. Applying this approach to the emergence of capitalism in eighteenth-century Europe, Hodgson identifies the key institutional developments that coincided with its rise. That analysis enables him to counter the widespread view that capitalism is a natural and inevitable outcome of human societies, showing instead that it is a relatively recent phenomenon, contingent upon a special form of state that protects private property and enforces contracts. The book also considers what this more precise conceptual framework can tell us about the possible future of capitalism in the twenty-first century.

“Remarkable and highly original.” —Ugo Pagano, University of Siena and Central European University, author of Work and Welfare in Economic Theory

“Broad, thoughtful, and highly literate.” —Richard Nelson, Columbia University, author of An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change

“Carefully-argued and ultimately convincing.” —Bruce Caldwell, Duke University, co-author of Hayek: A Life 1899-1950

“A magnum opus.” —Wolfgang Streeck, emeritus director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, author of How Will Capitalism End?

“Groundbreaking.” —LSE Review