Search results for "Institutional economics"
showing 10 items of 23 documents
Un’analisi giuridica dell’economia: John R Commons e i Legal Foundations of Capitalism
2015
Legal Foundations of Capitalism by John Roger Commons (1924) challenges both orthodox theories of economics and mainstream legal doctrines, at a time when the social sciences were oriented towards new epistemological approaches. This essay shows how Common’s work overruled the assumptions of that movement which in the 20th century became known as Law and Economics. It is not an attempt to extend economic analysis to the study of law. Instead, it is aimed at the application of legal concepts, terms and definitions to economics, and at making economic phenomena coincide with juridicial ones. The end result is the challenge of both neoclassical economics and of traditional legal theories.
Human Nature and Economic Institutions: Instinct Psychology, Behaviorism, and the Development of American Institutionalism
2004
Recent articles have explored from different perspectives the psychological foundations of American institutionalism from its beginning to the interwar years (Hodgson 1999; Lewin 1996; Rutherford 2000a, 2000b; Asso and Fiorito 2003). Other authors had previously dwelled upon the same topic in their writings on the originsand development of the social sciences in the United States (Curti 1980; Degler 1991; Ross 1991). All have a common starting point: the emergence during the second half of the nineteenth century of instinct-based theories of human agency. Although various thinkers had already acknowledged the role of impulses and proclivities, it was not until Darwin's introduction of biolo…
Support policy for the tourism business: a comparative case study in Spain
2009
It is now well known that service industries, and especially the tourism sector, significantly contribute to economic and social development in the European Union. Intrinsic to the growth of the tourism industry has been the public interventions that, directly or indirectly, have facilitated the development of this sector. In this context, this paper aims to contribute to the knowledge on the design and implementation process of support policies for tourism businesses in Spain, using institutional economics as the theoretical framework. Based on a comparative case study, the article shows that despite the relevance of the legal system, the most important factors for the promotion of the tou…
An institutional capital approach to sustainable development
2008
PurposeThe paper aims to outline and analyse some important elements of institutional capital and their potential effect on sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents four elements of institutional capital: public domain, institutional strength, good governance, and institutional equilibrium. The choice of these elements and the analysis of their economic, social and environmental impacts are based on literature study and interpretation and extension of existing analyses which rather focus on either economic or environmental issues.FindingsThe main argument of the paper is that institutional capital is a fundament of sustainable development, and that a lack of suc…
“INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL” AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ‐ THE IMPORTANCE OF AN INSTITUTIONAL EQUILIBRIUM / INSTITUCINIS KAPITALAS KAIP DARNAUS…
2008
The main aim of this article is to provide a basis for changing the focus in New Institutional Economics (NIE) from the economic effects of institutions to the importance of “institutional capital” for sustainable development. First, a theoretical model of NIE is presented in the context of sustainable development. Then, the concept of an institutional equilibrium (where informal institutions support and strengthen formal institutions) is discussed as an important determinant of “institutional capital” stimulating or hampering sustainable development. Santrauka Šio straipsnio tikslas – pateikti naujos institucinės ekonomikos (NIE) pokyčius, kai pastebimas perėjimas nuo ekonominių institucij…
Human Nature and Economic Institutions Instinct Psychology, Behaviorism and the Development of American Institutionalism
2003
This paper explores the evolution of the psychological foundation of institutional economics between the early XXc and the 1940s. The first part deals with the rise and fall of instinct psychology. Inspired by Veblen's taxonomy of instinctive behavior, several American economists attempted to build a viable alternative to psychological hedonism of neoclassical economics then only at its infancy. In this debate we show how instinct theory came to be applied to the field now as industrial psychology. The second part discusses some of the reasons why this methodological approach began to lose momentum among leading American institutionalists. In this section we also present the emergence of be…
Institutional Arrangements Matter for Both Efficiency and Distribution: Contributions and Challenges of the New Institutional Economics
2011
Are scholars in the New Institutional Economics tradition systematically disregarding distributive aspects when approaching policy issues as was the case during the 1970s and 1980s? Do economic and political agents usually care about distribution too? To provide an answer to these questions is the basic purpose of this chapter. The analysis carried out demonstrates that not all NIE oriented scholars disregard distributive issues. Some contributions are examined as examples, mainly in the so-called political economy branch of NIE. By means of a well-known graphical tool, the chapter also emphasizes that all of us clearly care about distribution, not just about efficiency, when participating …
Socio-cultural factors and entrepreneurial activity
2011
Scholars who study entrepreneurship have lent great value by exploring the factors that explain how entrepreneurs create new businesses and thus, how societies and economies grow and prosper. Although there has considerable research based on psychological and economic approaches to entrepreneurship, the influence of socio-cultural factors on enterprise development remains under studied. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to integrate, from a theoretical perspective, the socio-cultural factors and entrepreneurial activity. In this sense, the article points out that the institutional approach could be an apt framework to develop future research analyzing the socio-cultural factors that influ…
Labor Market Flexibility and Unemployment: New Empirical Evidence of Static and Dynamic Effects
2012
The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between labor market flexibility and unemployment outcomes. Using a panel of 97 countries from 1985 to 2008, the results of the paper suggest that improvements in labor market flexibility have a statistically and significant negative impact on unemployment outcomes (over unemployment, youth unemployment, and long-term unemployment). Among the different labor market flexibility indicators analyzed, hiring and firing regulations and hiring costs are found to have the strongest effect.
Qualité et coordination économique dans les industries agroalimentaires. Analyse institutionnelle comparée de l'industrie du vin en Bourgogne, Califo…
2004
Since the 1990s, the French wine exporters have been confronted with an increasing competition from a few nations of North America and the Southern Hemisphere. Initially positioned on the medium-range, the New World Wine Producers quickly developed their positions on the whole of the segments, including those traditionally occupied by French wines under controlled label of origin (AOC). The thesis examines the link between wine marketer' quality strategies and the coordination in the chain of production. Research is carried out on two levels: that of transactions governance structures concerning fresh grape, must and bulk wine, and that of the public rules framing these transactions. Firstl…