The institutional economics of Walton Hale Hamilton : sources, nature, and influence

In December 1918 an article entitled "The Institutional Approach to Economic Theory" was presented at the annual meeting of the American Economics Association meetings. It is believed by some historians of economic thought that this was the formal beginning of a distinct intellectual movement that came to be known as "institutional economics." The author, Walton Hale Hamilton, was an influential economist, social philosopher, policy-maker during the interwar years and the New Deal, and legal scholar in the area of Public Law. He was a prolific writer of both popular and scholarly articles. Despite Hamilton having been a leading figure in institutional economics, little has been done to analyze Hamilton's contribution to the body of institutional economic theory. It is the purpose of this dissertation to provide such an analysis. The thesis of this study is that Walton Hamilton advanced a distinctive approach to institutional economics. Three main questions are addressed with regard to Hamilton's work in institutional economic theory. First, what were the sources and origins of his institutional economics? Second, what was the nature of his institutional approach to economic theory? Third, what was the extent of his influence on institutional economics as an ongoing school of thought? The results of the study suggest the following; First, Hamilton developed his institutional economics with Charles H. Cooley as his primary inspiration. Second, Hamilton advanced a holistic/evolutionary approach to economic theory that made the analysis of actual economic problems central to the development of theory. Third, in spite of the fact that Hamilton inspired other notable institutional economists, such as Clarence Ayres, the distinctive features of his work appear to have gone largely unrecognized by modern-day institutionalists.