FOUNDATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS: JOHN ROGERS COMMONS AND INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS

John Rogers Commons (1862-1945) was a prominent representative of American institutionalism in the early decades of the 20th century. As a political economist and sociologist, he developed an institutional approach, defining institutions as collective actions which take place within given norms such as law, habits, and customs. Additionally, he introduced the transaction as the smallest unit of interaction in economic theory. Commons' studies of the labour market, the role of law, and his social policy work in legislation made him one of the most influential proponents of old institutional economics.