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Strong, Weak, and Zero-Sum: A Commonsean Solution to Maffeo Pantaleoni's Quest for Contractual Settlements

Nicola Giocoli

History of Economic Thought and Policy2025https://doi.org/10.3280/spe2025-001004article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

The paper explores Maffeo Pantaleoni's 1898 essay, focusing on his analysis of why rational agents enter mutualistic agreements, i.e. contracts, despite common predatory and parasitic behaviors. Pantaleoni classifies social relationships into predatory, parasitic, and mutualistic categories, anticipating the zero-sum logic where wealth is redistributed rather than created. The paper highlights the limitations of Pantaleoni's neglect of the legal system in shaping contracts, contrasting his ideas with legal realism, which emphasizes law's role in reducing transaction costs. It also connects Pantaleoni's work with John Rogers Commons's theory, extending his ideas into modern institutional economics.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3280/spe2025-001004

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@article{nicola2025,
  title        = {{Strong, Weak, and Zero-Sum: A Commonsean Solution to Maffeo Pantaleoni's Quest for Contractual Settlements}},
  author       = {Nicola Giocoli},
  journal      = {History of Economic Thought and Policy},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3280/spe2025-001004},
}

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Strong, Weak, and Zero-Sum: A Commonsean Solution to Maffeo Pantaleoni's Quest for Contractual Settlements

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.