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Structure, institution, agency, habit, and reflexive deliberation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2008

STEVE FLEETWOOD
STEVE FLEETWOOD*
Affiliation:
School of Human Resource Management, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
*
Correspondence to: School of Human Resource Management, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Bristol B16 1QY. Email: Steve.Fleetwood@uwe.ac.uk
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Abstract

The conceptual apparatus referred to generally as agency-structure or agency-institution is central to a great deal of social science, especially Institutional Economics. Despite its centrality, this apparatus has never been able to fully explain how institutions and social structures influence agents' intentions and actions. Economist, Geoff Hodgson and Sociologist, Margaret Archer have been at the forefront of endeavours to provide such an explanation. Section 1 of this paper elaborates upon Hodgson's ideas on institutional rules, habits, habituation, and the notion of reconstitutive downward causation. Section 2 elaborates upon Archer's ideas on structures, reflexive deliberation and the notion of an internal domain of mental primacy, and ends with a critical look at Archer's (brief) comments on rules and habits. The conclusion shows how a more nuanced understanding of structures, institutions, agency, habits, and deliberation, can inform research into a specific area, namely the analysis of labour markets.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , August 2008 , pp. 183 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © The JOIE Foundation 2008

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