Knowra Douglass North Douglass North Douglass North was an American economist and economic historian who studied how institutions shape economic performance. He received the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Institutions : Rules and norms that structure social, political, and economic interaction. North defined institutions as the rules shaping incentives and economic exchange.
Institutional economics : The study of how institutions influence economic behavior and outcomes. North’s work helped shape the modern study of institutions in economics.
Robert Thomas : An economic historian who collaborated with Douglass North on institutional change and economic history. Their joint work connected institutional analysis with the history of the Western world.
The Rise of the Western World : A 1973 book by Douglass North and Robert Thomas explaining Western economic growth through institutional change. It presents an early, influential application of North’s institutional account of development.
Neoclassical economics : An economic approach that analyzes choices through preferences, constraints, and market equilibrium. North argued that standard models often treated institutions and transaction costs as negligible.
Transaction cost : The cost of arranging, enforcing, and carrying out an exchange beyond the price of the good. North used transaction costs to explain why institutions affect economic performance.
New institutional economics : An approach that explains economic outcomes through institutions, transaction costs, and property rights. North became a leading figure in this approach to economic analysis.
Ronald Coase : A British economist whose work on transaction costs and firms influenced institutional economics. Coase’s analysis of transaction costs provided a foundation North developed historically.
Structure and Change in Economic History : A 1981 book by Douglass North explaining economic history through institutions and organizations. North systematized his account of institutions, transaction costs, and historical change here.
Marxian economics : An economic tradition analyzing capitalism through class relations, production, and historical change. North’s institutional framework offered a different account of historical economic transformation.
Show all 27