The social structure of accumulation (SSA) approach offers a theoretical and historical account of the long-run dynamics of institutional change and economic growth in US capitalism. As initially formulated, the SSA comprises the economic, social, and political institutions that constitute the environment within which the capital accumulations process operates (Gordon et al., 1982). The institutions that make up an SSA undergo a life-cycle that is related to long swings in economic activity. An old, and relatively rigid, SSA prolongs a long stagnation period, while a new, and still evolving, SSA promotes a long boom period.

The SSA approach proposes that the institutions of a new SSA must be in place before the next long boom period can begin. In a declining SSA, although stagnation undermines an institution's resource base, it is not easily reformed, because of vested interests, old political coalitions, fixed bargains and expectations, and ideology. The historical account (Gordon et al., 1982) illustrates this process for each of the three SSAs in US history. By emphasizing the obstacles that constrain institutional adjustment to changing conditions, the SSA approach suggests that institutional rigidities can bring a long boom to an end or can perpetuate stagnation over a long period. On the other hand, the construction of a new SSA must begin before the next long boom period can take hold. But can an old SSA be revived by exogenous institutional changes? How does a new SSA get built?