Institutional Economics

<p>Institutional economics is a sociocultural discipline and policy science which draws on the idea that economies are best understood through an appreciation of history real-world institutions and socioeconomic interrelations. This book brings together leading institutionalists to examine the tradition’s most essential perspectives and methods.</p><p>The contributors to the book draw on a broad range of institutional thought from the classic work of Thorstein Veblen John R. Commons and Karl Polanyi to the newer viewpoints of post-Keynesian institutionalism feminist institutionalism and environmental institutionalism. Methods range from frameworks used to analyze public policy and institutional change to modes of analysis including myth busting historically grounded narratives and computer-based simulations. Each chapter surveys the origins development key features applications and frontiers of a particular viewpoint framework or mode of analysis. Due consideration is given to both strengths and weaknesses; and woven into the chapters is attention to core institutionalist concepts including technology institutions culture and complexity.</p><p>The book provides economists with promising starting points for new research students with contributions refreshingly in touch with the real world and policymakers and social scientists with compelling reasons for engaging further with the institutionalist tradition.</p>