Institutional Economics

Auteur

James I. Sturgeon is Economics Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He taught Institutional Economics for over forty years and served as Economics Department chair. He is an Honorary Fellow at Bremen University, Germany, a Senior Fellow at the Levy Economics Institute, and previously a staff economist at the United States Federal Trade Commission. He was co-founder and past president of the Association for Institutional Thought and past president of the Association for Evolutionary Economics.

Texte du rabat

Institutions are the controlling force at the center of any economy. They organize and control all economic activity from markets to producers, consumers to governments, and more. Institutions determine how fundamental economic questions such as, what, how, and for whom, are answered. Thus, scientific analysis of economic activity requires a deep and systematic understanding of institutions. This much-needed text provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the increasingly influential field of Institutional economics. Across its ten chapters, it unpacks the history, theory, applications, policies, and methods of Institutional economics, carefully blending theoretical, conceptual and empirical elements that together illuminate the complexity of the modern economy. Topics covered include production, consumption, class and distribution, development, value theory, and specific institutions including the corporation, property, labor, and government. Each chapter concludes with selected questions or issues posed as a basis for class discussion and further research. Written in a lively and accessible style for students new to the topic, this book is set to become the go-to resource for classes on institutional economics across the world.

Contenu

Contents

Tables, Figures and Boxes
Acknowledgments
Preface

1 Introducing Institutional Economics
2 Economics in Historical Perspective
3 Theoretical Foundations
4 The Evolution of Economic Society
5 Human Behavior and Economic Analysis
6 Production Theory and Resources
7 Consumption Theory and Patterns
8 Class Theory, Income and Wealth Distribution
9 Economic Development and Progress
10 Institutions in Action
Conclusion

Endnotes