Abstract
This paper deals with a controversial problem in the economics of institutions: how do regularities emerge and evolve out of the social interaction of various agents? Referring to arguments developed in a previous work (Rizzello and Turvani 2000) in which the Austrian Economics' views about the spontaneous emergence of institutions is connected to and enriched by recent findings in the cognitive sciences, the authors here extend the institutional-cognitive approach by incorporating the social cognitive theory of Albert Bandura. Accordingly, rather than being described as ‘instruments’ for social coordination, institutions are depicted as ‘structures’ emerging from the subjective process of generation of knowledge within a social context. Institutional behavior, its emergence and evolution is thus anchored to the mechanisms creating subjective diversity and those producing social learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandura, A. (1977a) Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs ( NJ): Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1977b) “Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change.” Psychological Review 84: 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs ( NJ): Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1989) “Social Cognitive Theory.” Annals of Child Development 6: 1–60.
Bandura, A. (1991a) “Social Cognitive Theory of Moral Thought and Action.” Handbook of Moral Behavior and Development 1: 45–103.
Bandura, A. (1991b) “Social Cognitive Theory of Self-Regulation.” Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes 50(2): 248–87.
Boudon, R. (1981) Effetti perversi dell'azione sociale. Milan: Feltrinelli.
Coleman, J. (1987) “Norms As a Social Capital.” In: Radnitsky, G., and Bernholz, P. (eds.) Economic Imperialism. New York: Paragon House.
Denzau, A., and North, D. (1994) “Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions.” Kyklos 47(1): 3 –31.
Dewey, J. (1958) Experience and Nature. New York: Dover Publ.
Dretske, F. (1981) Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.
Hayek, F. A. (1952) The Sensory Order. An Inquiry into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Hayek, F. A. (1963) “Rules, Perception and Intelligibility.” Proceedings of the British Academy XLVIII: 321–44.
Hodgson, G. (2000) “What is the Essence of Institutional Economics?” Journal of Economic Issues 34(2): 317–29.
Knight, F. H. (1921) Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Loasby, B. J. (1991) Equilibrium and Evolution. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Menger, C. (1963 [1883]) Problems of Sociology and Economics. Urbain: University of Illinois Press.
Mill, J. S. (1978 [1859]) On Liberty. Indianapolis: Hackett Publ.
North, D. (1994) “Economic Performance Through Time.” American Economic Review 84(3): 359–68.
Radner, R. (1968) “Competitive Equilibrium Under Uncertainty.” Econometrica 36: 31–58.
Rizzello, S. (1999) The Economics of the Mind. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
Rizzello, S. (2000) “Economic Change, Subjective Perception and Institutional Evolution.” Metroeconomica 51(2): 127–50.
Rizzello, S., and Turvani, M. (2000) “Institutions Meet Mind: The Way out of an Impasse.” Constitutional Political Economy 11: 165–80.
Rutherford, M. (2000) “Institutionalism Between the Wars.” Journal of Economic Issues 34: 291–304.
Shackle, G. (1972) Epistemics and Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schotter, A. (1986) “The Evolution of Rules.” In: Langlois, R. (ed.) Economics as a Process. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Turvani, M. (2001) “Microfoundation of Knowledge Dynamics within the Firm.” Industry and Innovation 8(3): 309–23.
Vanberg, V. (2001) Rational choice vs. program-based behavior. Paper presented at the Workshop 'The nature and evolution of institutions', Max Planck Institute for Research into Economic Systems, Jena.
Williamsom, O. E. (1994) “Visible and Invisible Governance.” American Economic Review (P&P) 84(2): 323–26.
Williamson, O. E. (2000) “The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead.” Journal of Economic Literature 38: 595–613.
Witt, U. (1999) “Evolutionary Economics and Evolutionary Biology.” In: Koslowski, P. (ed.) Sociobiology and Bioeconomics. The Theory of Evolution in Biological and Economic Theory. Berlin: Spinger.
Witt, U. (2000) Social Cognitive Learning and Group Selection – A Game-theoretic Version of Hayek's Societal Evolution. Paper presented at the INEM–ASSA Session “Austrian Economics and Game Theory”. Boston. January 8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rizzello, S., Turvani, M. Subjective Diversity and Social Learning: A Cognitive Perspective for Understanding Institutional Behavior. Constitutional Political Economy 13, 197–210 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015377903529
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015377903529