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Cambridge Journal of Economics 28:413-429 (2004)
Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 28, No. 3, © Cambridge Political Economy Society 2004; all rights reserved

Anti-Williamson: a Marxian critique of New Institutional Economics

Daniel Ankarloo* and Giulio Palermo*

Address for correspondence: Dr G. Palermo, Department of Economics, University of Brescia, via S. Faustino 74B 25122 Brescia, italy; email: palermo{at}eco.unibs.it

New institutional economics explains capitalist institutions by means of neoclassical tools. This method consists of introducing non-market institutions as solutions to market failures. The explicit or implicit assumption is that ‘in the beginning there were markets’. In this paper, we criticise this conception inherited from neoclassical economics by focusing on Williamson's theory. First, we discuss Williamson's speculative method, which idealises the market and presents it as natural and universal. We then suggest that Williamson's categories, his method and conception are themselves products of bourgeois ideology. In this sense, we conclude, Williamson himself is ultimately an ‘institution of capitalism’.

Key Words: Market hierarchies • Transaction costs • Oliver Williamson • Marxian critique

JEL classifications: B14, B31, B52, L22

Manuscript received March 12, 1999; final version received June 14, 2002.


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