On Custom

Custom is a key factor for economic performance. Social and
economic institutions build on it. The purpose of this paper is to
reflect on the motivational force of custom per se, as brought
about by history. History creates entitlements, and these influence
behavior. Custom is thus understood as a set of behavioral
dispositions inherited from the past. In this, the present
considerations deviate from earlier approaches that take custom as
being stabilized by external rewards and sanctions alone