The Individual and the Social in Institutional Research: From Monocausal to Polycausal Analysis

The article examines the relationship between the individual and socially conditioned factors in institutional research. Drawing on the works of D. North, J. Wallis, B. Weingast, and C. Welzel, it analyzes the debate between institutional and values-based approaches to socioeconomic development. It argues that opposing institutions to values obscures the mutual dependence of social processes. The article considers V.M. Polterovich’s polycausal analysis, which accounts for the interplay of technology, institutions, value preferences, and welfare. Particular attention is paid to D. Acemoglu, J. Robinson, and S. Johnson, the 2024 Nobel laureates in economics. In the work of Acemoglu and Robinson, the distinction between extractive and inclusive institutions develops into an analysis of the balance of power between the state and society and their mutual restraint in the concept of the “narrow corridor.” In Power and Progress, Acemoglu and Johnson further examine the value-based and ethical grounds for choosing directions of technological development. Their concept of inclusive vision calls for consideration of the interests of broad sections of society and the social consequences of innovation. Relating such a vision to inclusive institutions is presented as an important step toward polycausal analysis. The article shows how individual agency is connected with culture, social norms, and public dialogue. Existing social regulators often lag behind rapid technological development, increasing the risks of inequality, manipulation of public opinion, and the reduction of people to passive components of a technological system. The article concludes that a transition to polycausal analysis requires interdisciplinary synthesis and an examination of the conditions in which agents of social action emerge. The unity of the individual and the social underpins the agency needed for meaningful dialogue, the reconciliation of interests, and a combination of social stability with substantive innovation.

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