Schmoller, Durkheim, and Old European Institutionalist Economics

Schmoller's. . . economics. . . is Darwinian rather than Hegelian, although with the ear-marks of Hegelian affiliation visible now and again; and it is historical only in a sense similar to that in which a Darwinian account of the evolution of economic institutions might be called historical.... It aims at a Darwinist account of the origin, growth, persistence, and variation of institutions, in so far as these institutions have to do with the economic aspect of life either as cause or as effect.... In this line of theoretical inquiry Professor Schmoller is not alone ... ; but the seniority belongs to him, and he is also in the lead as regards the comprehensiveness of his work.