In this landmark work, a Nobel Prize-winning economist develops a new way of understanding the process by which economies change. Douglass North inspired a revolution in economic history a generation ago by demonstrating that economic performance is determined largely by the kind and quality of...

Introduction -- The Foundations: Human Needs and Cultural Background -- Culture in Economic Thinking -- Cultural Background and Economic System -- The Effect of Cultural Background on Incentives, Growth and Distribution and Vice Versa -- Cultural Background and Rationality -- The Cultural...