This publication presents one of the first attempts to integrate two emerging bodies of economic research: institutional economics and organizational theory. It begins within the framework of neoclassical economics, and then extends the boundaries of this framework to offer answers to questions that have so far remained puzzles in neoclassical economics. The integrated approach of this publication also challenges the dominant paradigm in economics over the last 15 years that views the market as the best mechanism for carrying out transactions. The market is not the only transaction mechanism; other modes of organization are also important. However, this way of thinking does not involve a simple reintroduction of the confrontation between the ¿government¿ and the ¿market¿. On the contrary, the integrated approach tries to open the ¿blackbox¿ of the role of institutions in daily life and the diversity of modes of organization. Through this integrated approach, the book hopes to contribute to a better insight to real world problems. Dr. Louis H.G. Slangen is Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy at Wageningen University. His teaching, research and supervising MSc and PhD theses are in the field of resource economics, economics of land-use, new institutional economics and economic organisation theory. His publication record consists of about 30 articles in refereed journals, 15 chapters in books, and 10 books. He has a long and extensive experience in various types of research projects for various Dutch Ministries and the European Union. Dr. Laura A. Loucks is Senior Researcher and Lecturer in Institutional Economics and Organization Theory at Wageningen University. Her research focuses on new and emerging institutions for sustainable fisheries management. She has been a consultant to the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans as well as the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Her research on fisheries co-management agreements has been published in several books and in Marine Policy, one of the leading journals on marine management issues. Dr. Arjen H.L. Slangen has been Assistant Professor of International Business at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and is currently Assistant Professor of International Strategy at the University of Amsterdam. His research examines how national institutional environments influence the foreign entry strategies and performance of multinational enterprises. He has published in leading international business and management journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies and the Journal of Management Studies.

This second edition assesses some of the major refinements, extensions, and useful applications that have developed in neoinstitutionalist thought in recent years. More attention is given to the overlap between the New Institutional Economics and developments in economic history and political science. In addition to updated references, new material includes analysis of parallel developments in the field of economic sociology and its attacks on representatives of the NIE as well as an explanation of the institution-as-an-equilibrium-of-game approach. Already an international best seller, Institutions and Economic Theory is essential reading for economists and students attracted to the NIE approach. Scholars from such disciplines as political science, sociology, and law will find the work useful as the NIE continues to gain wide academic acceptance. A useful glossary for students is included. Eirik Furubotn is Honorary Professor of Economics, Co-Director of the Center for New Institutional Economics, University of Saarland, Germany and Research Fellow, Private Enterprise Research Center, Texas A&M University. Rudolph Richter is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Director of the Center for New Institutional Economics, University of Saarland, Germany.

An analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies is developed in this analysis of economic structures.

This book examines and compares the 'old' institutionalism of Veblen, Mitchell, Commons, and Ayres, with the 'new' institutionalism developed from neoclassical and Austrian sources.

This introduction to institutional economics, follows the history of the field since the early 20th century until the present day. It concentrates on influential authors in the main schools of institutional economics. Institutional economics is defined as economic thought that considers institutions to be relevant for economic theory, and consequently criticizes the neoclassical mainstream for having pushed them out of the discipline; it deals specially with the nature, the origin, the change of institutions, and their effects on economic performance. It is a family of different theories that were initially influential in economics, then lost much of their weight in the middle half of the 20th century, and eventually recovered significant creative vitality and impact in the last twenty years. The book puts the recent developments in historical perspective by showing how important themes like the importance of habits, the role of formal and informal rules, the relation of organizations and institutions, the hierarchy and complementarity of institutions, the evolutionary character of institutional change, have been explored by various authors or schools.

Consists of original and rev. versions of papers presented at a conference at Airlie House in Virginia, Mar. 1983. Includes bibliographies and index.