Reclaiming Habit for Institutional Economics

This paper reviews the concept of habit and its relation to institutions. The following questions are addressed: What are habits? Why have they evolved? How do institutions affect them? And what are some of the implications for economic analysis? It is argued that the early pragmatist and institutionalist though of William James, John Dewey and Thorstein Veblen remains a useful guide in this area, for further research today.