The Evolution of Economic Institutions: A Critical Reader

About the Book

It is now widely acknowledged that institutions are a crucial factor in economic performance. Major developments have been made in our understanding of the nature and evolution of economic institutions in the last few years. This book brings together some key contributions in this area by leading internationally renowned scholars including Paul A. David, Christopher Freeman, Alan P. Kirman, Jan Kregel, Brian J. Loasby, J. Stanley Metcalfe, Bart Nooteboom and Ugo Pagano.

This essential reader covers topics such as the relationship between institutions and individuals, institutions and economic development, the nature and role of markets, and the theory of institutional evolution. The book not only outlines cutting-edge developments in the field but also indicates key directions of future research for institutional and evolutionary economics.

Vital reading on one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing areas of research today, The Evolution of Economic Institutions will be of great interest to researchers, students and lecturers in economics and business studies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction Geoffrey M. Hodgson PART I: INDIVIDUALS, INTERACTIONS AND INSTITUTIONS 2. Bounded Rationality and Institutionalism Ugo Pagano 3. Individual and Aggregate Behaviour: Of Ants and Men Alan P. Kirman 4. Governance of Transactions: A Strategic Process Model Bart Nooteboom PART II: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PATH DEPENDENCE 5. The Political Economy of the Long Wave Christopher Freeman 6. Instituted Economic Processes, Increasing Returns and Endogenous Growth J. Stanley Metcalfe 7. Path Dependence, its Critics, and the Quest for ‘Historical Economics’ Paul A. David PART III: THE MARKET IN ECONOMIC THOUGHT 8. Financial Markets and Economic Development: Myth and Institutional Reality Jan Kregel 9. The Meaning of the Market: Comparing Austrian and Institutional Economics Philippe Dulbecco and Véronique Dutraive PART IV: COMPARATIVE EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES 10. Uncertainty, Intelligence and Imagination: George Shackle’s Guide to Human Progress Brian J. Loasby 11. Evolutionary Themes in the Austrian Tradition: Menger, von Wieser and Schumpeter on Institutions and Rationality Richard Arena and Sandye Gloria-Palermo 12. The Relevance Today of Edith Penrose’s Theory of the Growth of the Firm Margherita Turvani 12. The Naturalist View of Universal Darwinism: An Application to the Evolutionary Theory of the Firm J.W. Stoelhorst Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Edited by Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Emeritus Professor, Loughborough University London, UK

Review :
'This volume documents in a unique manner the momentum the institutionalist, evolutionary research agenda has regained over the past two decades. The thought-provoking contributions come from prominent authors with a rather heterogeneous theoretical background. Nonetheless, they all convene in elaborating on issues that have always been at the core of the institutionalist agenda and show how these issues relate to cutting edge research in modern economics.' - Ulrich Witt, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany 'This excellent EAEPE Reader brings together a range of perspectives on the role of institutions in economics. It is very well structured, with parts on microeconomics, macroeconomics, markets and economic evolution. Each part contains chapters written by renowned experts in their respective fields and there is an authoritative introductory chapter by the editor. This Reader is invaluable for economics students and academic economists wishing to better understand how institutions and individual behaviours interact in the economic system. Much of standard economic analysis either ignores institutions or makes overly restrictive assumptions about them - the authors in this book show, persuasively, that economics, without an adequate treatment of institutions and institutional change, is of very little scientific worth.' - John Foster, The University of Queensland, Australia 'This is a great set of essays. To get the richness they contain, the reader must be already familiar with the broad orientation of the literature on economic institutions. Given that background, I can think of no collection or essays that frame, illuminate, and probe, modern institutional economics as well as does this set. Geoffrey Hodgson, who chose the collection, and the authors of the essays, are to be congratulated and thanked.' - Richard R. Nelson, Columbia University, US