Rudi Verburg

Structure, Agency and the Role of Values in Processes of Institutional Change

Research on institutional change has flourished ever since the debate on agency and structure moved away from the previously uncompromising positions which emphasized either agency or structure. A conceptual compromise is sought here in a focus on the processes of institutionalization, which enables us to move beyond the idea that institutions are mere mental constructs or the point of view that behaviour is the mere reproduction of institutional patterns. Contributing to an understanding of the processes of institutional change, this chapter analyses institutional change as instigated by tensions triggered by discrepancies perceived by agents between concrete institutional settings and the socio-economic values they are expected to represent. The Social Value Nexus that is presented below introduces an emphasis on the perceived legitimacy of institutions. Describing (types of) tensions between socio-cultural values and institutional settings, the chapter explores the ways in which structure, agency and values interact in processes of institutional change.

Adam Smith's growing concern on the issue of distributive justice

According to the accepted view, Smith carved out distributive justice from his concept of justice and argued that distributive justice would follow in the wake of natural liberty. In recent contributions, however, it is emphasized that a system of natural liberty will only generate beneficent distributional outcomes if the rules of commutative justice safeguard natural liberty and mirror community standards of justice. In this paper it is argued that Smith increasingly came to question whether commercial society could meet this requirement. Given their subservience to sectional interests, rules of justice neither safeguard natural liberty nor conform to community standards. Moreover, the inherent strain in commercial society to corrupt mans moral sentiments erodes community standards of justice. In the development of Smiths views his growing concern for distributive justice is reflected.

Modernisation, Solidarity and Care in Europe. The sociologist's tale

In today’s affluent Western European societies most people take full-fledged health and social care for granted. They are free from fear of the dire poverty that was for a long time the consequence of unemployment, ill health, or old age. The adequate provision of care by the welfare state has become so self-evident for them, that it has become an idee recue. Yet newspapers report daily on the negative effects of bottlenecks in our systems of health and social care and on health and care costs that get out of hand. With almost the same frequency, ideas and policy proposals are presented that claim to provide remedies for such malfunctioning or overspending. Some plans propose only financial solutions to the problems at hand. These plans take either of two forms; on the one hand there are those who worry chiefly about the quality of care and brush aside cost objections. They want to increase the budget for care by raising taxes and levies or, by making individual co-payments compulsory. On the other hand there are those for whom increasing costs are subject to constant concern. They want to cut costs and at the same time make efficiency improvements, so that the level of care provision can be kept at the same level or even raised. Others, neither believes in the willingness of governments and people to pay more and more for health and social care, nor do they have enough faith in substantial cost reduction in combination with efficiency improvements. They deem rationing measures necessary or propose that the sick, the disabled, and the elderly queue up in anticipation of cure and care. In the face of such plans for reconstructing the existing collective risk-sharing arrangements, full-fledged health and social care provisions are in danger of losing their self-evidence.

THE RISE OF GREED IN EARLY ECONOMIC THOUGHT: FROM DEADLY SIN TO SOCIAL BENEFIT

This paper discusses the historical changes in economic and ideological conditions through which greed turned from one of the deadly sins into a passion from which society derived social benefits. Adding to the perspective developed by Hirschman in his The Passions and the Interests, three stages are distinguished in the construction of the notion of the social utility of greed: (1) the self-sufficient community; (2) the mercantile state; and (3) commercial society. The paper relates how changing conditions led philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to recognize the conditional usefulness of greed and, eventually, to build a dream on the idea of greed as instrumental in establishing the material foundation of progress in society.

John Stuart Mill's Political Economy: Educational Means to Moral Progress

Abstract The interrelation between John Stuart Mills political economy and his social philosophy is often neglected by economists, even though social and moral progress is the aim and focus of Mills work as scholarship on Mill has made clear in past decades. This paper aims to show how Mills political economy fits his framework of progress. It is argued that Mill characterized his economics in accordance with his theory of (individual) development, which explained how people could be induced to change patterns of behavior that prevented progress, enabling “a tendency towards a better and happier state.” Mapping out how to overcome the Malthusian trap of poverty, the most serious stumbling block to mans material and moral improvement, Mill brought economics into action as an instrument for progress.

Bernard Mandeville's vision of the social utility of pride and greed

Abstract In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pride and greed were hailed for their capacity to tame mans unruly passions and induce cooperation. Both narratives concur in the work of Mandeville. How, and to what extent, does the Mandevillean alliance of pride and greed account for social cooperation? Seeking to gratify his pride in a socially acceptable manner by accumulating wealth, man unintentionally creates the conditions that promote cooperation. Nevertheless, society remains the scene of conflicting forces. Social cooperation is unstable in being sought for reasons of gain in the zero-sum struggle for distinction.

A History of Scottish Economic Thought

More than half a century ago, Macfie called attention to the existence of a Scottish tradition in economic thought which he described as philosophical or sociological. In the paper he admitted, however, that ‘‘. . . it at once appears that a mere article will not do. If there is a Scottish line inspiring these great writings, then only a volume could do it justice’’ (1955: 81). With A History of Scottish Economic Thought, the editors have presented us with such a volume. Following up on Macfie’s suggestion, the editors have structured the volume of essays around the notion of a distinctive Scottish tradition in political economy. This tradition is best understood as a method or approach, aiming to understand phenomena of order and progress in society from principles of human nature (such as the principle of self-preservation or the herding principle, but always emphasizing man’s social nature), derived from experience. Continuity and change in society and its institutions are studied as the (unintended) result of the application of man’s dispositions and powers in different circumstances and ages. Given the consequent emphasis on historical, political, social and moral factors, theory always has a tentative and provisional nature. The notion of a distinctive Scottish approach ties in nicely with the aim of the series (to which the volume belongs) to represent economic thought in terms of national identity, and served as point of reference in the selection of key Scottish figures who are discussed in the book. Between the introductory chapter and a postscript, the volume offers essays on Law, Hutcheson, Hume, Steuart and Smith (18 century), while the 19 century is represented by James Mill, McCulloch, Chalmers and Rae, mostly written by renowned scholars in the field, often adapted from previous publications. We proceed into the 20 century with BOOK REVIEWS

Reforms in Health and Social Care in Europe: The Challenge to Policy

In the introductory chapter to the first part of the volume it was argued that the particular form solidarity adopts in European society is subject to the process of modernisation. Involving a gradual rearrangement between community, market and state, this process of modernisation in the second half of the twentieth century brought about the rise of the modern welfare state, in which solidarity took the form of contractual solidarity. In this sense, it is often argued that the modern welfare state is founded upon a social contract between the citizens of a society to share individual and collective risks in such a way that the costs are distributed according to the ability to pay. Such a distribution implies a transfer from the young, the employed and the healthy to the elderly, the unemployed and the sick (Schuyt, 1998). With reference to shared values and norms, this transfer is seen as an expression of the mutual dependence among the members of a highly differentiated society. Perceived as a framework of rights and obligations, which include all citizens, comprehensive systems of organised and enforced solidarity have evolved in the form of collectively financed risk-sharing arrangements of care, to which each may appeal with equal right to access and care provision according to need.