Institutions and Economic Theory: The Contribution of the New Institutional Economics (Economics, Cognition & Society) - Softcover

"The second edition of the influential Institutions and Economic Theory provides a remarkably lucid and conceptually sophisticated account of the rapidly growing New Institutional Economics literature. It provides a highly readable analytic overview for graduate students and faculty interested in learning about the past and present of the new institutionalist approach in economics" --Victor Nee, Goldwin Smith Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Economy and Society, Cornell University -- (06/06/2005) "This is an important, timely, and complete update on the rapidly developing field of the New Institutional Economics. From transactions costs to contract theory to property rights to the formation of the state, it is all here. Key theoretical arguments and insights provided from the latest research are summarized succinctly and rigorously. This volume is a major addition to the literature on the roles of transaction costs and institutions in understanding behavior." --Gary Libecap, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, Economics, and Law University of Arizona -- (07/01/2005)

This book explores the NIE, with a critical assessment of its theoretical contributions. This second edition aims to explain and assess some of the major refinements, extensions and useful applications that have been introduced into the body of neoinstitutionalist thought in recent years. References have been updated and more attention is given to the overlap between the NIE and developments in economic history and political science. New material includes the addition of parallel developments in the fields of economics sociology and its attacks on representatives of the NIE as well as an explanation of the institution-as-an-equilibrium-of-game approach.