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This is a ground-breaking book about the foundations of institutional economics. K. William Kapp presents the economic role of institutions for economic development, capital formation and technological dynamics in an easily accessible and comprehensive manner. As a front-rank 20th century institutional economist, Kapp pulls together arguments from a variety of sources, including Thorstein Veblen, John Kenneth Galbraith and Gunnar Myrdal, all of which emphasize the crucial role of institutions.
List of contents
Editorial Introduction 1. Introduction: The Lasting and Increasing Relevance of Institutional Economics 2. Institutional Economics and Conventional Economic Theory 3. The Intellectual Antecedents of Institutional Economics 4. The Nature and Meaning of Institutions: Towards a Theory of Institutional Change 5. The Institutional Theory of Human Conduct and Economic Behavior 6. Towards a Theory of Human Needs and Social Minima 7. The Institutional Concept of Capital and the Process of Capital Formation 8. The Interaction between Technology and Business Enterprise 9. Technology II 10. The Multi-Sector Economy and the Theory of Economic Domination. Appendix A: Substantive vs. Formal Rationality: Environmental Indicators as Indicators of Social Use Values. Appendix B: The Central Hypothesis of Institutional Economics: Circular and Cumulative Causation. Appendix C: Institutionalism and the Price System: The Problem of Social Costs. Appendix D: Environment and Technology: New Frontiers for the Social and Natural Sciences. Appendix E: Science and Technology in the Light of Institutional Analysis: Governmental Furtherance of Environmentally Sound Technologies as a Focus of Research and Environmental Policies. Appendix F: Social Economics and Social Welfare Minima. Appendix G: In Defense of Institutional Economics. Appendix H: Alternative Introductions. Appendix I: Project Outline "American Institutionalism: The System of Economic Analysis of Veblen and his Followers"
About the author
Sebastian Berger is Assistant Professor of Economics at Roanoke College, USA.
Rolf Steppacher is a former graduate student assistant to K. William Kapp and a member of the Board of the Kapp Foundation, and until his recent retirement was Professor of Economics at the Graduate Institute at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
