Felipe Almeida

Vicarious Learning and Institutional Economics

Psychological insights have been present in institutional economics since its beginning. Recently, cognitive aspects of institutional economics have been highlighted. The proposal of this paper is to offer other psychological insights related to institutional economics, which are complementary to a cognitive approach. The goal is to emphasize elements of Psychological Social Learning Theory as a possible foundation of Institutional Economics. This paper argues that people vicariously learn by the observation and interpretation of exemplary behaviors. Vicarious learning relies on the comprehension of people about who/what models are. Vicariously, people are motivated to behave as a model; when they succeed, models are reinforced. As something socially and cumulatively acceptable and/or desirable, exemplary behaviors can take place repetitively and become a habit. Institutions arise as outgrowths of those habits. In this logic, a working definition of institution is a cognitive inertia about the typifications of foreseeable regularities in behaviors of people in a society.

Thorstein Veblen and Albert Bandura: A Modern Psychological Reading of the Conspicuous Consumer

Thorstein Veblen was a founding father of original, or old, institutional economics. The social and evolutionary usage of things and thoughts are at the center of Veblens approach. In his studies, he dealt with psychological, social, anthropological and economic issues. The psychological content of Veblens writing takes instinctive and habitual issues into consideration. The proposal of this paper is to revisit the psychology of Veblens conspicuous consumer. In such a task, this paper discusses the role of observation and cognition in habit building, and their influence on the conspicuous consumer. It also introduces a psychological explanation of the importance of the leisure class to the conspicuous consumer. In order to build the analysis, this paper takes into account elements of Albert Banduras vicarious learning. These elements are introduced to highlight vicarious observation as a key component of Veblens conspicuous consumer.

Análise comparativa em modelo computadorizado bidimensional com simulação do emprego de hastes flexíveis de aço e titânio, na fratura do fêmur da criança, utilizando o método dos elementos finitos

OBJECTIVE: To present a 2D computer model simulating a pediatric femur fracture treated with steel and titanium elastic nails, using the Finite Element Method, with a comparative evaluation of the paths and distribution of stresses, main stresses, and strains. METHODS: Two different models were used, both generated by application Ansys®, considering the simulation of a 1 mm transversal fracture of the diaphysis whose stabilization was performed with the use of intramedullary nails made of different materials (steel and titanium), according to the Mechanostat Theory proposed by Frost in 1987. RESULTS: The introduction of intramedullary nails in the femur has changed the path of stresses, and conducted compressive stresses. In the comparison, the model with titanium nails, according to the Mechanostat Theory proposed by Frost, presented a more homogenous performance in the strain study than the stainless steel nails. CONCLUSIONS: The model proposed attained the objective of comparing stresses and strains between the steel and titanium nails simulations. By analyzing the path and the distribution of stresses in the model (Von Mises and main stresses), one can see the qualitatively improved biomechanical behavior in the titanium nails model, but in the quantitative analysis restricted to the fracture focus regions, the values are statistically similar. In the strain study, the more homogenous biomechanical behavior is seen in the model with titanium nails, as all strains seen in fracture focus regions are within the physiological window proposed by Frost.

Institutionalists as Dissenters: Why Were Institutionalists So Dissatisfied with Economics During the Post-War Period

Abstract: In the 1940s and 1950s, institutionalist economists rapidly lost their influence over American economics. In parallel, a new mainstream emerged, and the institutionalists were extremely dissatisfied with the path taken by the economic science. We analyze the opinions and feelings about this context to shed light on the institutionalists’ understanding of the new mainstream economics. We construct a historical account of the institutionalists’ dissatisfaction with post-war economics based on archival material from the personal papers of Allan Gruchy, John Gambs, John Blair, and Clarence Ayres. In the period analyzed, the economists, who would later found the Association for Evolutionary Economics, acted as dissenters rather than institutionalists. In part, this explains the pluralistic path that the association has followed ever since its foundation.

Inside the Organizational Institutions of Institutional Economics: Why Are There Two Institutionalist Associations?

Abstract: The institutionalist-inspired Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE), officially founded in 1965, was the first heterodox association to break with the American Economic Association (AEA). In 1979, another institutionalist association, the Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT), was founded. Using mainly archival evidence, this paper provides historical reasons for the presence of two institutionalist associations.

Revisiting “Institutions”: A Study of the Evolution of Institutional Analysis

Abstract: Since its founding in 1967, the Journal of Economic Issues (JEI) has been the main publication vehicle for original institutionalist studies. In 1987, twenty years after JEI’s establishment, volumes 3 and 4 of the journal were dedicated to the reintroduction of key concepts and analytical frameworks of original institutionalism. In 1987, JEI’s volume 3, Walter Neale’s “Institutions” was published. It is a seminal study on the meaning and identification of institutions that introduced key issues from the original institutionalism analytical framework. As three decades have passed since the publication of Neale’s article, there is significant motivation to analyze the evolution of the meaning and identification of institutions through original institutionalist studies. The main sources of information for this article are related works published in JEI in the last thirty years.

Three Decades After James Street’s “The Institutionalist Theory of Economic Development”: What Does Institutional Approach to Economic Development Mean Today?

Abstract: James Street’s article, “The Institutionalist Theory of Economic Development,” (1987) is a masterpiece of institutionalist research on economic development. The thirty-year anniversary of its publishing is an invitation to review what the institutional approach to economic development means today. This article, therefore, aims to present a historical survey of works published in the Journal of Economic Issues (JEI) on economic development.

An Institutional Explanation for Economists’ Theoretical and Methodological Choices

ABSTRACT Scientific research in general and economics research in particular is a social act. More specifically, schools of economic thought as well as associations, research groups and conferences are expressions of social organizations within the realm of economics. Historically, studies investigating the methodologies used in economics have focused on the strengths of these social organizations. This study aims to analyze the key roles played by individuals within social organizations in building and reinforcing economics and, in turn, their influence on these individuals. To achieve this goal, we use an institutionalist approach in a broad sense. We show how economics as an academic environment can be presented as an institutional entanglement and how an institutionalist approach can enhance an understanding of why economists adopt a particular theoretical and methodological perspective. It is argued that habits, observations and cognitive abilities should be seriously considered to understand the logic and decision making of economic researchers. We discuss also the importance of forming groups in the process of institutionalizing elements relevant to an economic researcher’s logic and decision making and present an interpretation of mainstream economics in terms of the analytical approach of our study.

Public Policy, Vested Interest, and Common People in Brazil in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract: We offer an original institutional approach to analyzing policies meant to regulate the actions of common people in the Brazilian state agenda in recent years. We also address the reactions of vested interests against this agenda. Such vested interests rely on corporations’ ceremonial encapsulation of state policies — policies that were established during the decades when Brazil’s industrialization process took place. Brazilian policies for the common people, however, are a twenty-first-century phenomenon.

A History of the Founding and Early Years of AFEE

Abstract: During the late 1950s, institutionalists started organizing themselves amid the decline of institutional economics, leading to the 1965 founding of the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE). We analyze the history of the movement to found AFEE and its early years. We use archival evidence, much of it previously unpublished, to provide a detailed history of these early years. We also present an account of AFEE that highlights the role of different interpretations of institutional economics in building the association. In addition, we provide a brief history of the early years of the Journal of Economic Issues (JEI).