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Conduct, rules and the origins of institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2015

VERNON L. SMITH*
Affiliation:
Chapman University, Orange, California

Abstract:

This paper supports the effort by Hindriks and Guala (2014) to integrate the prevailing accounts of institutions. I illustrate with traffic narratives how we can think of their concept of rules-in-equilibrium as evolving from universal elementary forms. These conceptions resonate fully with Smith (1759) who saw rule-following conduct as the basis of human sociality and action.

Type
Article Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2015 

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References

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Hume, D. (1896; 2014), ‘A Treatise of Human Nature, Reprinted from the Original Edition in three volumes and edited, with an Analytical Index’, in Selby-Bigge, L. A. (ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896. http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/342.Google Scholar
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