Automation,workers and union decline: Ben Seligman's contribution to the institutional economics of labor

This paper presents a study of the work of the institutional labor economist, Ben Seligman. Seligman presents an interesting case study of theory and practice because he spent part of his career working for unions. He formed his version of institutional economics before he went to work for those unions, but his work for them exposed him to the impact automation was having on workers and unions. Because his institutional economics included an appreciation for humans as active agents with the capability to act within the limits set by the context of socioeconomic institutions, he was able to set forth an analysis of automation that centered on alienation as a key indicator of the harm automation caused.