The Making of the Institutional Theory of Social Costs: Discovering the K. W. Kapp and J. M. Clark Correspondence

Abstract

This article reconstructs the making of the often "overlooked" institutional theory of social costs based on the unexploited correspondence between

The Legacy of K. William Kapp

“…As we have seen, Kapp's theories are a frontal attack on free markets and the interests of the private sector. They clearly clashed with the rise and expansion of neoliberal thought (Berger, , ). However, paradoxically, heterodox economists were not much more receptive to Kapp's ideas.…”

“…These ideas were not only ignored or attacked by neoclassical economists but they went also much further than what most institutional economists had advocated. As a result, such an eminent institutionalist figure as John M. Clark criticized Kapp for failing to provide any detailed formulation and evaluation of the potentials and limitations of a collectivist alternative (Berger, ), a critique only partly true (see e.g. Kapp, : 202–20).…”

“…Berger () argues that Kapp's notion of social benefits provides an institutional version of Paul Samuelson's neoclassical ‘public goods’ argument.…”

Facile Fabrication of Mussel‐Inspired Multifunctional Polymeric Membranes with Remarkable Anticoagulant, Antifouling, and Antibacterial Properties

“…E. coli and S. aureus are the main source of infections that cause blood stream infections in humans, [37] which also were the most widely used Gram-negative and Gram-positive model bacteria for both biomedical and clinical investigations for antibacterial study. [38] Although the log-reduction of bacterial count in the solution phase in a dynamic flask method is reasonable and accuracy to calculate the minimum inhibitory amount for the bacteria, [39] it was not suitable for this study.…”

What If There Are No Conventional Price Mechanisms?

“…Rather, they opted for making it better (Lee 2009, 33). One of the leading institutionalist economists of the interwar period, John M. Clark, for example, was not in support of K. William Kapp's work on the institutionalist social cost theory because Kapp's theory required that neoclassical theory be abandoned, whereas Clark wished to improve it (Berger 2013). Such a sympathetic attitude toward neoclassical theory was due partly to the survival strategy in the face of attacks and discrimination in academia (Lee 2009, 32-35).…”