Institutional economics

Includes bibliographical references and index

The economy is an instituted process - such is the emerging consensus in economics in the last twenty years. This book is an introduction to institutional economics, following the history of different trends in this field since the early 20th century until the present day. It relates the history of economic theories that make up the enlarged family of institutional economics. Institutional economics is defined as economic thought that considers institutions to be relevant for economic theory, and consequently criticises the neoclassical mainstream for having pushed them out of the discipline of economics; it deals specially with the nature, the origin, the change of institutions, and their effects on economic performance. Based on different doctrinal and methodological positions, the theories surrounding this subject have all made a major contribution to contemporary thought. Chavance's book puts the recent developments into historical perspective by showing how key themes like the importance of habits, the role of formal and informal rules, the relation of organizations and institutions, the hierarchy of institutions, the evolutionary character of institutional change, have been explored by various authors or schools; it introduces novel concepts of contemporary research. Source: http://www.amazon.com