The nature of institutions in a process approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/EiP.2023.004Keywords
institutions, features of institutions, institutional economicsAbstract
Motivation: The importance of institutions, understood as common social norms (process approach), is undeniable. As they affect all processes occurring in the economy, it seems crucial to gain a thorough knowledge of their nature. Understanding how institutions work, how they function and how they change would allow for a better explanation of many socio-economic processes occurring in production, exchange and consumption.
Aim: The main purpose of this article is to conceptualize institutions in the process approach and to identify the most important features that characterize them. The paper is theoretical and interdisciplinary in nature.
Results: The result of the analysis carried out in this article is the identification of the following characteristics of institutions in the process approach: universality, heterogeneity (originality), endogeneity, variability over time (spontaneous and constituted), dependence on the past (historicity), immateriality and direct non-observability. The study also allowed to identify the following features of the institutional system: internal complexity and internal interdependence, which can take the form of relationships of substitutability, complementarity or mutual exclusion.
References
Alonso, J.A., & Garcimartín, C. (2013). The determinants of institutional quality: more on the debate. Journal of International Development, 25(2), 206–226. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1710.
Amable, B. (2016). Institutional complementarities in the dynamic comparative analysis of capitalism. Journal of Institutional Economics, 12(1), 79–103. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137415000211.
Aoki, M. (2007). Endogenizing institutions and institutional changes. Journal of Institutional Economics, 3(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137406000531.
Bal-Woźniak, T. (2012). Innowacyjność w ujęciu podmiotowym: uwarunkowania instytucjonalne. PWE.
Borkowski, M. (2022). Institutional equilibrium in EU economies in 2008 and 2018: SEM-PLS models. Statistics in Transition New Series, 23(2), 107–127. https://doi.org/10.2478/stattrans-2022-0019.
Bouma, G. (1998). Distinguishing institutions and organisations in social change. Journal of Sociology, 34(3), 232–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/144078339803400302.
Chmielnicki, P. (2014). Relacje pomiędzy formalnymi i nieformalnymi elementami ładu aksjonormatywnego w ujęciu empirycznym. In M. Król, A. Bartczak, & M. Zalewska (Eds.), Jurysprudencja 3: integracja zewnętrzna i wewnętrzna nauk prawnych, 2, 11–32. Uniwersytet Łódzki.
Colander, D. (2000). The death of neoclassical economics. Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 22(2), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/10427710050025330.
Commons, J.R. (1924). Legal foundations of capitalism. Macmillan.
Czech, S. (2019). Od konfliktu do kooperacji: instytucjonalizacja konfliktu interesów zbiorowych w szwedzkim modelu gospodarczym. Scholar.
Dinar, G.B., & Aydin, D.G. (2010). Why institutional economics is a better alternative to the neoclassical economics than the new institutional economics. International Journal of Economic Research, 7(2), 277–286.
Dobler, C. (2011). The impact of formal and informal institutions on economic growth. Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-653-00883-8.
Douglas, M. (2011). Jak myślą instytucje. PWN.
Durkheim, E. (1982). The rules of sociological method. The Free Press.
Fiedor, B. (2015). Instytucje formalne i nieformalne w kształtowaniu trwałego rozwoju. Studia i Prace WNEiZ US, 2(40), 83–107. https://doi.org/10.18276/sip.2015.40/2-07.
Gancarczyk, M. (2002). Instytucja a organizacja w nowej ekonomii instytucjonalnej. Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, 176(5–6), 78–94. https://doi.org/10.33119/GN/113844.
Giannone, D. (2010). Political and ideological aspects in the measurement of democracy: the Freedom House case. Democratization, 17(1), 68–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510340903453716.
Gruszewska, E. (2011). Dezintegracja w zinstytucjonalizowanym świecie. Ekonomia i Prawo. Economics and Law, 7, 49–65. https://doi.org/10.12775/EiP.2011.003.
Gruszewska, E. (2013). Instytucje a proces tworzenia kapitału w Polsce. Uniwersytet w Białymstoku.
Gruszewska, E. (2015). Rola instytucji nieformalnych w kształtowaniu ładu instytucjonalnego. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu, 405, 55–69. https://doi.org/10.15611/pn.2015.405.04.
Gruszewska, E. (2018). On the nature of institutions. Studia Sieci Uniwersytetów Pogranicza, 2, 133–150.
Helmke, G., & Levitsky, S. (2004). Informal institutions and comparative politics: a research agenda. Perspectives on Politics, 2(4), 725–740.
Hindriks, F., & Guala, F. (2015). Institutions, rules, and equilibria: a unified theory. Journal of Institutional Economics, 11(3), 459–480. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137414000496.
Hodgson, G.M. (2006). What are institutions. Journal of Economic Issues, 40(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2006.11506879.
Hodgson, G.M. (2014). On fuzzy frontiers and fragmented foundations: aome reflections on the original and new institutional economics. Journal of Institutional Economics, 10(4), 591–611. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137414000307.
Hodgson, G.M. (2019). Taxonomic definitions in social science, with firms, markets and institutions as case studies. Journal of Institutional Economics, 15(2), 207–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137418000334.
Höpner, M. (2005). What connects industrial relations and corporate governance: explaining institutional complementarity. Socio-Economic Review, 3(2), 331–358. https://doi.org/10.1093/SER/mwi014.
Iwanek, M., & Wilkin, J. (1997). Instytucje i instytucjonalizm w ekonomii. Uniwersytet Warszawski.
Khalil, E.L. (1999). Institutions, naturalism and evolution. Review of Political Economy, 11(1), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/095382599107174.
Kurtz, M.J., & Schrank, A. (2007). Growth and governance: models, measures, and mechanisms. Journal of Politics, 69(2), 538–554. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00549.x.
Leković, V. (2011). Interaction of formal and informal institutions: impact on economic success. Facts Universitatis. Series: Economics and Organization, 8(4), 357–370.
Liebowitz, S., & Margolis, S.E. (1995). Path dependence, lock-in, and history. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 11(1), 205–226.
Mahoney, J., & Thelen, K. (2010). Explaining institutional change: ambiguity, agency, and power. Cambridge University Press.
Mazur, S. (2013). Zmiana instytucjonalna. Zarządzanie Publiczne. Public Governance, 2–3(24–25), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.7366/1898352932503.
Milczarek, D. (2006). Instytucje a wzrost gospodarczy w świetle badań empirycznych. In D. Milczarek, M. Brzozowski, P. Gierałtowski, & J. Siwińska-Gorzelak (Eds.), Instytucje a polityka makroekonomiczna i wzrost gospodarczy (pp. 19–44). Uniwersytet Warszawski.
Moszyński, M. (2013). Instytucjonalne uwarunkowania budowy ładu społecznej gospodarki rynkowej w byłej NRD. In I. Bludnik, M. Ratajczak, & J. Wallusch (Eds.), Ekonomia: teoria, historia, praktyka (pp. 284–299). Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu.
North, D.C. (1984). Transaction costs, institutions, and economic history. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 140(1), 7–17.
North, D.C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678.
North, D.C. (1992). Institutions, ideology, and economic performance. Cato Journal, 11(3), 477–496.
Ostrom, E. (2005). Understanding institutional diversity. Princeton University Press.
Ostrom, E. (2008). Doing institutional analysis: digging deeper than markets and hierarchies. In C. Ménard, & M.M. Shirley (Eds.), Handbook of new institutional economics (pp. 819–848). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69305-5_31.
Owczarczuk, M. (2013). Zmiany instytucjonalne w gospodarce: wybrane aspekty teoretyczne. Optimum: Studia Ekonomiczne, 2(62), 26–40. https://doi.org/10.15290/ose.2013.02.62.03.
Parto, S. (2005). Economic activity and institutions: taking stock. Journal of Economic Issues, 39(1), 21–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2005.11506779.
Pejovich, S. (1999). The effects of the interaction of formal and informal institutions on social stability and economic development. Journal of Markets & Morality, 2(2), 164–181.
Platje, J. (2008). “Institutional capital” as a factor of sustainable development: the importance of an institutional equilibrium. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 14(2), 144–150. https://doi.org/10.3846/1392-8619.2008.14.144-150.
Robinson, J.A. (2013). Measuring institutions in the Trobriand Islands: a comment on Voigt’s paper. Journal of Institutional Economics, 9(1), 27–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137412000215.
Searle, J.R. (2005). What is an institution. Journal of Institutional Economics, 1(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137405000020.
Staniek, Z. (2017). Ekonomia instytucjonalna: dlaczego instytucje są ważne. Difin.
Stiglitz, J.E. (2001). Challenges in the analysis of the role of institutions in economic development. In G. Kochendörfer-Lucius (Ed.), The institutional foundations of a market economy (pp. 15–28). DSE Development Policy Forum.
Streeck, W., & Thelen, K. (2005). Introduction: institutional change in advanced political economies. In W. Streeck, & K. Thelen (Eds.), Beyond continuity: institutional change in advanced political economies (pp. 1–39). Oxford Univeristy Press.
Sukiennik, J., Dokurno, Z., & Fiedor, B. (2017). System instytucjonalnej równowagi a proces zmian instytucjonalnych z perspektywy zrównoważonego rozwoju. Ekonomista, 2, 121–143.
Thompson, K. (2002). Emile Durkheim. Routledge.
Urbanek, P. (2020). Ewolucja logiki instytucjonalnej w reformowanym systemie szkolnictwa wyższego w Polsce. Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, 302(2), 95–122. https://doi.org/10.33119/GN/120625.
Veblen, T.B. (1924). Absentee ownership and business enterprise in recent times: the case of America. Allen & Unwin.
Veblen, T.B. (2016). The theory of the leisure class. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
Vitola, A., & Šenfelde, M. (2015). The role of institutions in economic performance. Business: Theory and Practice, 16(3), 271–279. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2015.498.
Voigt, S. (2013). How (not) to measure institutions: a reply to Robinson and Shirley. Journal of Institutional Economics, 9(1), 35–37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137412000240.
Wilkin, J. (2011). Institutional equilibrium: what is it about and what is its role in the economy. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu: Ekonomia, 15(208), 26–37.
Wilkin, J. (2016). Instytucjonalne i kulturowe podstawy gospodarowania. Scholar.
Williamson, O.E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting. Free Press.
Williamson, O.E. (2000). The new institutional economics: taking stock, looking ahead. Journal of Economic Literature, 38(3), 595–613. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.38.3.595.
Zenka, A. (2009). Wpływ państwa na równowagę systemu instytucjonalnego. In S. Rudolf (Ed.), Nowa ekonomia instytucjonalna: teoria i zastosowania (pp. 237–256). Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomii i Prawa im. Profesora Edwarda Lipińskiego w Kielcach.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Mateusz Borkowski
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 600
Number of citations: 0
