Why read Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance?

Book cover of Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance

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Continuing his groundbreaking analysis of economic structures, Douglass North develops an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time. Institutions exist, he argues, due to the uncertainties involved in human interaction; they are…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

William K. Jaeger

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“Institutions are the rules of the game,” according to Douglas North, economic historian and Nobel Laureate.

Once created, institutions may be changed, but their legacy can be powerful. Economic history is a consequence of a dynamic, sometimes disruptive, process of institutional change, one for which a path to better institutions is not assured.

Exchange involves risks and uncertainty. In centuries past, kinship ties helped reduce uncertainty for exchange in insular communities. As exchange across larger distances expanded to engage with more distant communities, alternatives institutions were needed, such as contracts, laws, courts.

Whether one’s interest is promoting welfare, equity, sustainability,…

From William's list on The best books to see that economics is much more than the study of the economy.