Economic Behavior and Institutions

An important new research programme has developed in economics that extends neoclassical economic theory in order to examine the effects of institutions on economic behaviour. The body of work emerging from this new line of inquiry includes contributions from various branches of economic theory, such as the economics of property rights, the theory of the firm, cliometrics and law and economics. This book is the first comprehensive survey of this research programme which the author terms ‘neoinstitutional economics’. The author proposes a unifed approach to this research, integrating the work of various contributors and emphasising the common principles of inquiry that tie the work together. The theoretical discussion is accompanied by empirical studies dealing with a range of institutions and economic systems. This book will serve as the primary resource for economists and students who want to learn about this important new branch of economic theory.