 Origins of the Economy as Collective ActivityCosimo Perrotta Chapter Chapter 2 in Human Capital, 2023, pp 13-35 from Springer Abstract: Abstract The theoretical approach centred on the individual is misleading (Sect. 1). There are also other neoclassical assumptions which are unfounded: the rational behaviour of economic agents (abundantly disproved by neo-institutionalists); the view that exchange generates the division of labour and not vice versa; the idea that wealth only derives from competition; finally, Robbins’ thesis that the economy is only a matter of choice (Sect. 2). The anthropologists of Stone Age economy have disproved all these assumptions. They show that economic activity begins for survival; it is determined by the group and organised by the formation of custom in labour relations (Sect. 3). Then economic activity grows in parallel with human evolution (Sects. 4 and 5). The Neolithic revolution, by creating large aggregations, showed the existence of conflicts (Sect. 6), the birth of institutions and a strong increase in the division of labour (Sect. 7). But neoclassical and neo-institutionalist authors fail to properly analyse both conflicts and institutions. Keywords: Neoclassical postulates; Neo-institutionalism; Stone Age economy; Human evolution; Birth of institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-34494-7_2 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-34494-7_2 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Springer Books from Springer |
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