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The Institutional Revolution: A Review Essay

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  • Richard N. Langlois

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract
This review essay discusses and appraises Douglas Allen’s The Institutional Revolution (2011) as a way of reflecting on the uses of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) in economic history. It praises and defends Allen’s method of asking “what economic problem were these institutions solving?” But it insists that such comparative-institutional analysis be imbedded within a deeper account of institutional change, one driven principally by changes – often endogenous changes – in the extent of the market and in relative scarcities. The essay supports its argument with a variety of examples of the NIE applied to economic history.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard N. Langlois, 2013. "The Institutional Revolution: A Review Essay," Working papers 2013-11, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2013-11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sidney Pollard, 1963. "Factory Discipline in the Industrial Revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 16(2), pages 254-271, December.
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    7. Richard N. Langlois, 1995. "The Coevolution of Technology and Organization in the Transition to the Factory System," Economic History 9503001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
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    10. Szostak, Rick, 1989. "The organization of work : The emergence of the factory revisited," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 343-358, May.
    11. Allen, Douglas W., 2011. "The Institutional Revolution," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226014746, October.
    12. Douglass C. North, 2005. "Introduction to Understanding the Process of Economic Change," Introductory Chapters, in: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press.
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    Cited by:

    1. Douglas Allen, 2013. "In defence of the institutional revolution," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 397-412, December.
    2. Muñoz, Félix & Encinar, María Isabel & Fernández-de-Pinedo, Nadia, 2014. "Intentionality and technological and institutional change: Implications for economic development," Working Papers in Economic Theory 2014/04, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).
    3. Van Bavel, Bas, 2015. "History as a laboratory to better understand the formation of institutions," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 69-91, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    institutions; transaction costs; aristocracy; military history; factory system.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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