This book offers a comprehensive assessment of Douglass North's contribution to economics and the social sciences by examining the origins and structure of his New Institutionalist Economic History (NIEH). Informed by contemporary debates in the philosophy of economics, Krul describes the evolution of North's theory from mainstream economics to an increasingly heterodox form of New Institutionalism. He also examines what North's original aims were in developing the NIEH research programme and how well it has achieved these aims. By exploring major themes in North's NIEH, with an emphasis on the final stage of his theory, Krul sheds new light on the strengths and weaknesses of North's work. He also discusses the implications of this critical interpretation for the New Institutionalism in economics and other fields of social science.

Uses North's work as a case study for problems that affect the New Institutional Economics school more generally Addresses problems for the applicability of economic theory, specifically New Institutionalist theory, to the historical and social sciences Compares the approaches of North and Polanyi to New Institutionalism

Autorentext

Matthijs Krul was until recently Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale), Germany. He has been a visiting lecturer at Brunel University and the University of Westminster, UK. His work focuses on the intersection between the historiography and the philosophy of economics.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction: Douglass North's NIEH in Context.- Chapter 2: North's NIEH in Historical Overview.- Chapter 3: Markets, the Social Contract, and the 'Smithian Result'.- Chapter 4: Players of the Game: Rationality, Choice, and Indeterminacy.- Chapter 5: North's Theory of Cultural Evolution.- Chapter 6: North's NIEH as Global History.- Chapter 7: Revisiting Polanyi's Challenge: North and the Limits of the New Institutionalism.- Chapter 8: Conclusion: The Future of the Neoinstitutionalist Turn.