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Free keywords:
Comparative institutional analysis; economic organization; institutional design; path dependencies; institutional complementarities
Abstract:
Comparative institutional analysis begins with an analysis of how institutions shape forms of economic organization and the consequence of this for performance outcomes. It engages in this analysis by comparing firms, institutions, and processes in different societies. Comparative institutional analysis takes on board that societies are not hermetically sealed containers but rather are open systems where flows of capital, labour, ideas, technologies, etc. are to various degrees the norm. It also accepts that societies are internally diverse, with regional differences, and with institutions that are diverse and connected in a variety of tight and loose linkages. This book casts doubt over rationalistic models of institutional design, suggesting instead the need to take into account path dependencies, institutional complementarities, the unanticipated outcomes of action, and the susceptibility of change processes to unexpected contingent events.
