Institutionalist Thought: Ceremonial-Instrumental Dichotomy of the Veblen-Ayres Tradition

Veblen and Ayres’ ceremonial-instrumental dichotomy is considered the analytical core of Old Institutional Theory (OIT). This view offers a distinct perspective for analyzing economic issues. The object of economics is studied at the level of cultural generalization, not individual generalization (as neoclassicists do). Human behavior is understood as a process of cumulative adaptation to contextual circumstances. Thus, understanding the meaning of the dichotomy – of doing things and making social distinctions, and of its application to illuminate modern economic problems – deserves attention. This systematic literature review describes the main theoretical, analytical, methodological, and empirical contributions to the ceremonial-instrumental dichotomy of the Veblen-Ayres tradition. To this end, articles on the topic published in the last 46 years were reviewed, which resulted in the analysis of 45 articles, which can be classified as a) conceptual b) methodological; c) empirical, and d) literature reviews. This body of analysis provided insights that lead to inferring the possibility of research in different fields of social sciences.