Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Political Economy of Institutions & Decisions) - Hardcover

Douglass C. North

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521394163 ISBN 13: 9780521394161

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Explores the nature of institutions and institutional change.

About this title

Review

"At a time when economic and political institutions are being reformed and replaced all over the world, North's book is required reading for all social scientists and policy makers." T.N. Srinivasan, Yale University

"North here draws upon the literature concerning the formation of economic institutions...to ask significant questions about differences among economies across time and space...This is an exciting and stimulating work, and one that will leave its mark upon the work of economic historians. It will also be important for political scientists and other social scientists, to learn the message and relevance of an influential strain of non-mainstream economic thinking." Stanley Engerman, University of Rochester

"In a careful but wide-ranging analysis grounded in rational-choice theory, he stresses the ways in which institutional arrangements, once adopted, may lead quite rational actors to behave in ways that are collectively suboptimal." Paul Pierson, World Politics

Book Description

Continuing his groundbreaking analysis of economic structures, Douglass North develops an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time. The first part of the book expores the nature of institutions and explains the role of transaction and production costs in their development. Part II deals with institutional change and the final part covers the implications of this analysis for economic theory and economic history.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521394163
• ISBN 13: 9780521394161
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 159
• Editor: Thrainn Eggertsson, Randall Calvert