Journal Article

Review essay on an economist's perspective on history. Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance by Douglass C. North, 1990

Abstract: Douglass North earned a share of the 1993 Nobel prize for economics for two decades of research that culminated in the development of an innovative framework for analyzing economic history. This review essay discusses the book that most comprehensively presents North's paradigm, which characterizes history as the record of an evolving game in which institutions, organizations, and individuals function as the rules, teams, and players. Through examples, the reviewer illustrates how North's game theoretic paradigm can serve not only as a tool for analyzing historical events but also as a methodological bridge between the diverse branches of the social sciences and humanities.

Keywords: Books - Reviews; Economic history;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Part of Series: Economic Review

Publication Date: 1995

Volume: 80

Issue: Jan

Pages: 28-32