Table of Contents

Contents: Foreword 1. Introduction: Why Institutions Matter Part I: Foundations 2. Definitions: Economics, Institutions, Order and Policy 3. Human Behaviour 4. Fundamental Values 5. Institutions: Individual Rules 6. Institutional Systems and Social Order Part II: Applications 7. The Institutional Foundations of Capitalism 8. The Dynamics of Competition 9. Economic Organizations 10. Collective Action: Public Policy 11. The International Dimension 12. The Evolution of Institutions 13. Socialism versus Capitalism – System Transformations 14. Economic Freedom and Development Epilogue: Institutional versus Neoclassical Economics Bibliography Index

About the Author

Wolfgang Kasper, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, the late Manfred E. Streit, formerly Emeritus Professor, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany and Peter J. Boettke, University Professor of Economics and Philosophy, George Mason University, US

Reviews

’The first edition of this book, published in 1999, has deeply influenced my thinking on some of the most complex economic questions of our time, and this revised and updated edition, released [in 2012], is already proving to be at least as intellectually engaging. Should economic thought continue its trajectory away from the excessively simplistic foundations of modern neoclassical economics, there will be little doubt that books such as Institutional Economics will be shown to have played a significant role in the revitalisation of economics.’- Julie Novak, Institute of Public Affairs Review