Institutional Economics
Chi-ang Lin, Associate Professor
Department of Public Finance, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Fall 2002
Office phone: 50940 (campus phone) or 2938-7296 (O)
E-mail: calin@nccu.edu.tw
Website: http://pf.nccu.edu.tw/FACULTY/calin/index.htm
Hours: 10:30-11:30 Wednesday & Friday (Other times by appointment.)
Main Coverage
I. Institutional Economics in the Veblen-Ayres tradition.
1. Examination of the basic elements: theory, method, and philosophy
2. The process of change, adjustment, and progress
3. Application of institutional analysis
II. Empirical Studies in Institutional Change
Texts
1. Alston, Lee J.; Eggertsson, Thrбinn and North, Douglass C. (eds.) Empirical Studies
in Institutional Change. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
2. Ayres, C. E. The Theory of Economic Progress: A Study of the Fundamentals of
Economic Development and Cultural Change, 3rd edition. Kalamazoo, Michigan: New
Issues Press, Western Michigan University, 1978.
3. Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (ed.) The Foundations of Evolutionary Economics: 1890-1973, 2
Volumes. Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, 1998.
4. Kasper, Wolfgang and Streit, Manfred E. Institutional Economics: Social Order and
Public Policy. Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, 1998.
5. Reisman, David. The Institutional Economy: Demand and Supply.Northampton, Mass.:
Edward Elgar, 2002.
6. Schlicht, Ekkehart. On Custom in the Economy. New York: Oxford University
Press,1998.
7. Schmid, A. Allan. Property, Power, and Public Choice: An Inquiry into Law and
Economics, 2nd edition. New York: Praeger, 1987.
8. Tool, Marc R. (ed.) Evolutionary Economics, 2 Volumes. Armonk, New York: M. E.
Sharpe, 1988.
Required Reading
1. Boulding, K. E. “What is Evolutionary Economics?” Journal of Evolutionary Economics,
January 1991, 1(1), pp. 9-17.
2. Commons, John R. “Institutional Economics.” American Economic Review, December
1931, 21(4), pp. 648-57.
3. Gordon, Robert A. “Rigor and Relevance in a Changing Institutional Setting.” American
Economic Review, March 1976, 66(1), pp. 1-14.
4. Hayek, F. A. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” American Economic Review,
September 1945, 35(4), pp. 519-30.
5. Myrdal, Gunnar. “Institutional Economics.” Journal of Economic Issues, December
1978, 12(4), pp. 771-83.
Books On Reserve
1. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The New Industrial State, 4th edition. Boston, Mass.: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1985.
2. Lindblom, Charles E. Politics and Markets: The World’s Political-Economic Systems.
New York: Basic Books, 1977.
3. Munkirs, John R. The Transformation of American Capitalism: From Competitive
Market Structures to Centralized Private Sector Planning. Armonk, New York: M.E.
Sharpe, 1985.
4. Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation. Boston: Beacon Press, 1957.
5. Tool, Marc R. (ed.) Institutional Economics: Theory, Method, Policy. Norwell, Mass.:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993.
Course Requirements
One-year subscription to the Journal of Economic Issues (US$20)
1. Examinations – Combination in-class multiple choice tests and take-home essay
questions.
2. Class presentation – Each student is required to make two presentations in class. The
presentation is to be a summary of a “Presentation Paper” listed below.
3. Research paper – Specific guidelines for the research paper will be announced during the
semester.
Presentation Papers
1. Atkinson, Glen W. “Instrumentalism and Economic Policy: The Quest for Reasonable
Value.” Journal of Economic Issues, March 1987, 21(1), pp. 189-202.
2. Biddle, Jeff E. “Purpose and Evolution in Commons’s Institutionalism.” History of
3. Political Economy, Spring 1990, 22(1), pp. 19-47.
4. Bush, Paul D. “An Exploration of the Structural Characteristics of a Veblen-Ayres-Foster
Defined Institutional Domain.” Journal of Economic Issues, March 1983, 17(1), pp. 3566.
5. Dillard, Dudley. “Money as an Institution of Capitalism.” Journal of Economic Issues,
December 1987, 21(4), pp. 1623-47.
6. Foster, Gladys P. “The Endogeneity of Money and Keynes’s General Theory.” Journal of
Economic Issues, December 1986, 20(4), pp. 953-68.
7. Gruchy, Allan G. “Government Intervention and the Social Control of Business: The
Neoinstitutionalist Position.” Journal of Economic Issues, June 1974, 8(2), pp. 235-49.
8. Hayden, F. Gregory. “Values, Belief, and Attitudes in a Sociotechnical Setting.”
9. Journal of Economic Issues, June 1988, 22(2), pp. 415-26.
9. Heilbroner, Robert L. “On the Possibility of a Political Economics.” Journal of
Economic Issues, December 1970, 4(4), pp. 1-22.
10. Junker, Louis J. “Capital Accumulation, Savings-Centered Theory and Economic
Development.” Journal of Economic Issues, June 1967, 1(1&2), pp. 25-43.
11. Klein, Philip. “Power and Economic Performance: The Institutionalist View.” Journal of
Economic Issues, September 1987, 21(3), pp. 1341-77.
12. Kliemt, Hartmut. “On Justifying a Minimum Welfare State.” Constitutional Political
Economy, Spring/Summer 1993, 4(2), pp. 159-172.
13. Lin, Chi-ang. “An Institutional Perspective on Wagner’s Law: Concepts and Results.”
Mimeo, National Chengchi University, 2002.
14. Lin, Chi-ang and Chen, Yung-I. “Why Does Institutional Change Matter? An Example of
Evaluating the Marginal Excess Burden of Labor Income Taxation in Taiwan.” (in
Chinese with English abstract) Academia Economic Papers, December 2000, 28(4), 397427.
15. Lin, Chi-ang and Yang, Chia-lin. “The Unified Public-Private Industry in Taiwan: The
Institutionalist View.” (in Chinese with English abstract) Journal of Social Sciences and
Philosophy, June 2001, 13(2), 135-168.
16. Norgaard, Richard B. “The Case for Methodological Pluralism.” Ecological Economics,
February 1989, 1(1), pp. 37-57.
17. Rutherford, Malcolm. “Clarence Ayres and the Instrumental Theory of Value.” Journal of
Economic Issues, September 1981, 15(3), pp. 657-73.
18. Stanfield, J. Ron. “The Institutional Economics of Karl Polanyi.” Journal of Economic
Issues, September 1980, 14(3), pp. 593-614.
19. Street, James H. “The Institutionalist Theory of Economic Development.” Journal of
Economic Issues, December 1987, 21(4), pp. 1861-87.
20. Tool, Marc R. “The Compulsive Shift to Institutional Analysis.” Journal of Economic
Issues, September 1981, 15(3), pp. 569-92.
21. Trebing, Harry M. “Apologetics of Deregulation in Energy and Telecommunications: An
Institutionalist Assessment.” Journal of Economic Issues, September 1986, 20(3), pp.
613-32.