Geoffrey Hodgson

Geoffrey M. Hodgson (born 28 July 1946) is a Research Professor of Business Studies in the University of Hertfordshire, and also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Institutional Economics.

Prof. Hodgson is recognized as one of the leading figures of modern critical institutionalism which carries forth the critical spirit and intellectual tradition of the founders of institutional economics, particularly that of Thorstein Veblen. His broad research interests span from evolutionary economics and history of economic thought to Marxism and theoretical biology. He first became known for his book Economics and Institutions: A Manifesto for a Modern Institutional Economics (1988), in which modern 'mainstream' economics is criticized, and the call is made to revise economic theory on the new grounds of institutionalism. His reputation has become enhanced owing to the trilogy of more recent books - Economics and Utopia (1999), How Economics Forgot History (2001) and The Evolution of Institutional Economics (2004) all of which built Hodgson's arguments into a more rounded and powerful critique of mainstream economic theory.

In 2000 Hodgson co-founded The Other Canon, a center and network for heterodox economics research, with - amongst others - main founder and executive chairman Erik Reinert.

Institutions according to Hodgson

According to Hodgson, institutions are the stuff of social life. He defines them in a 2006...
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