"Commons opened Institutional Economics by declaring: ""My point of view is based on my participation in collective activities, from which I here derive a theory of the part played by collective action in control of individual action."" This sentence well summarizes the three key elements of this book--its theoretical intent, the importance Commons gave to his own experience in institutional reform in shaping these ideas, and the focus on the concept of the institution as a collective constraint on individual action."--Provided by publisher.