Economists have recognized that ldquo;institutions matterrdquo; and the renewal of Institutional Economics has gained a large scientific authority, but institutions, as unit of analysis, stay a concept not understood on all its dimensions. Recently, a new concept appeared in the economic...

The aim of this arti cle is to show that the New Insti tuti onal Economics is an interdisciplinary stream combining economics, law, organizati on theory, politi cal sciences, sociology, and anthropology. The main theories which are part of the New Insti tuti onal Economics are: Agency Theory,...

Coase’s work emphasized the economic importance of very small markets and made a new, more marginalist form of economic “institutionalism” acceptable within mainstream economics. A Coasean market is an association of persons with competing claims on a legal entitlement that can be traded....

This paper proposes an original formal framework to analyze institutional evolution. Institutions have formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may evolve at different paces, although eventually converging towards each other through an dynamic interactive process. N evolves with capital...

In this chapter, we describe the essence and role of the institutions in the modern economic systems, the main issues concerning the institutional convergence in relation to the EU integration, the institutional capital and the impact of the quality and effectiveness of the institutions on...

Taking stock of the main approaches to explaining institutional change and its relationship with economic development, this paper proposes an original formal framework to analyze institutional evolution. Institutions have formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may evolve at different paces,...

This paper proposes a formal framework to analyze the process of institutional evolution in relation with economic progress. Institutions have both formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may exhibit varying processes of change. N is hypothesized to evolve with the level of capital stock, as in...

Purpose The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor. Design/methodology/approach The author approaches the discussion using a...

Vertrauen hat Konjunktur. Seit etlichen Jahren ist es en vogue, Vertrauen einzufordern. - Politiker fordern das "Vertrauen" der Wähler und konstatieren konsterniert, dass sie das Vertrauen der Wähler verloren haben (Der Spiegel Nr. 26; 2004: 24, Müntefering: 'Uns ist das Vertrauen der Menschen...

Bioprospection practices have proliferated as biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies engage in the collection and genetic screening of biological and genetic resources throughout the world. The purpose of this article is to examine the competing proposals for the institutional framing of...