Description
Book SynopsisThis thoroughly revised, extended and updated edition of a critically acclaimed textbook provides an accessible and cohesive introduction to the burgeoning discipline of institutional economics. Requiring only a basic understanding of economics, this lucid and well-written text will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students wanting to understand the problems of the real world - such as entrepreneurship, innovation, the cost of the welfare state, international financial crises, and economic development. As institutional economics is now revolutionizing policymaking, the book can also serve as a guide to the pressing problems facing policymakers in mature and emergent countries alike.
Key features include:
- A short 'Primer' at the beginning of each chapter to highlight the main issues and their relevance.
- Key Concepts such as 'institutions', 'economic order', 'coordination costs', 'competition' and 'public policy' are highlighted and clearly defined.
- International coverage is ensured as the three authors, experienced academic teachers, work in the US, Europe and the Asia Pacific.
Trade ReviewThe first edition of this book, published in 1999, has deeply influenced my thinking on some of the most complex economic questions of our time, and this revised and updated edition, released [in 2012], is already proving to be at least as intellectually engaging. Should economic thought continue its trajectory away from the excessively simplistic foundations of modern neoclassical economics, there will be little doubt that books such as Institutional Economics will be shown to have played a significant role in the revitalisation of economics. --Julie Novak, Institute of Public Affairs Review
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword 1. Introduction: Why Institutions Matter Part I: Foundations 2. Definitions: Economics, Institutions, Order and Policy 3. Human Behaviour 4. Fundamental Values 5. Institutions: Individual Rules 6. Institutional Systems and Social Order Part II: Applications 7. The Institutional Foundations of Capitalism 8. The Dynamics of Competition 9. Economic Organizations 10. Collective Action: Public Policy 11. The International Dimension 12. The Evolution of Institutions 13. Socialism versus Capitalism – System Transformations 14. Economic Freedom and Development Epilogue: Institutional versus Neoclassical Economics Bibliography Index
