Robert Franklin Hoxie: The Contributions of a Neglected Chicago Economist☆

Charles McCann and Vibha Kapuria-Foreman

A chapter in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, 2016, vol. 34B, pp 219-304 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Robert Franklin Hoxie was of the first generation of University of Chicago economists, a figure of significance in his own time. He is often heralded as the first of the Institutional economists and the impetus behind the field of labor economics. Yet today, his contributions appear as mere footnotes in the history of economic thought, when mentioned at all, despite the fact that in his professional and popular writings he tackled some of the most pressing problems of the day. The topics upon which he focused included bimetallism, price theory, methodology, the economics profession, socialism, syndicalism, scientific management, and trade unionism, the last being the field with which he is most closely associated. His work attracted the notice of some of the most famous economists of his time, including Frank Fetter, J. Laurence Laughlin, Thorstein Veblen, and John R. Commons. For all the promise, his suicide at the age of 48 ended what could have been a storied career. This paper is an attempt to resurrect Hoxie through a review of his life and work, placing him within the social and intellectual milieux of his time.

Keywords: Robert F. Hoxie; American Institutionalism; labor problems; labor economics; scientific management; B15; B31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:rhetzz:s0743-41542016000034b008

DOI: 10.1108/S0743-41542016000034B008

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