Toward an Evolutionary-Institutionalist Concept of State Capture: The Relevance of Kaleckian Analysis of Non-Equilibrium Dynamics

The paper contrasts viewpoints of neoclassical and traditional institutionalism on the prospects of state capture. It argues that state capture is a profit-seeking capital investment activity, which is determined by a historically prevailing and continuously evolving institutional environment, and, thus, it is an open-ended evolutionary phenomenon. Therefore the methodological framework of original institutionalism that emphasizes uncertainty and non-equilibrium processes is considered to be a better device for realistic study of state capture. Kaleckian analysis of non-equilibrium dynamics that links together capital accumulation and open-ended path of institutional change is recommended as a prospective method for further quantitative explorations in this field.