The Institutional Economics of the International Economy

This book is the outgrowth of the editors' conviction that there is a need for a current and comprehensive examination of international economic issues within the framework of institutional economics. The volume covers the most important international topics that institutional economists historically have addressed. We hope that our initiative and necessarily limited choice of subjects will encourage additional applications of institutional economic theory to the international economy. For other economists, the analyses contained in the volume's dozen chapters afford an opportunity to become more aware of the theoretical work and policy recommendations of institutional economists. It may be surprising that, to an extent, evolutionary and neoclassical thinking converge and even sometimes overlap on the matter of trends and problems of the international economy. A case in point is the increased attention both schools devote to the role of technology in shaping patterns of world trade and specialization. In the past few decades, global shifts in comparative advantages, the widespread adoption of more flexible exchange­ rate systems, and the remarkable shifts in institutional arrangements and policy regimes in the former Soviet Union and East Asia have compelled a reassessment of conventional static trade theories based on neoclassical assumptions. Links among trade, international investment, and the diffusion of economic growth are being more closely scrutinized and better understood. This volume is an effort to expand and stimulate this discourse on the economics of international relations, including global economic development. Front Matter....Pages i-xx The Institutional Economics of the International Economy....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 International Economic Affairs as Viewed from a Veblen-Ayres Perspective....Pages 13-33 Foreign Investment, Economic Growth, and Theories of Value: Evidence from Economic History....Pages 35-45 Theory and Praxis of the Emerging Global Economy....Pages 47-63 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Institutional Coordination, Transactions Costs, and World Trade....Pages 67-86 Trade and the Role of Cities: What Does Institutionalism Have to Offer Us?....Pages 87-106 Multinational Enterprise Expansion from an Institutionalist Perspective....Pages 107-124 Front Matter....Pages 125-125 Technology Transfer, Economic Development, and the Perpetuation of Poverty: Resource Creation Versus Frugality....Pages 127-142 Technology and Third-World Development: A Twenty- To Thirty-Year Retrospective....Pages 143-159 Labor Migration and Urban Employment in Developing Countries: The Impact of Population Growth and Property Institutions....Pages 161-178 Front Matter....Pages 179-179 Institutional Adjustment and Economic Development: Insights from the Etiology of Privatization....Pages 181-202 Institutional Reform of the International Monetary Regime....Pages 203-217 A World of Nations and the United Nations....Pages 219-233 Epilogue: The influences of Wendell C. Gordon....Pages 235-244 Back Matter....Pages 245-255 The Institutional Economics of the International Economy is a current and comprehensive examination of international economic issues within the framework of institutional economics. The volume covers the most important international topics that institutional economists historically have addressed.
One finds that evolutionary and neoclassical thinking converge and sometimes overlap on the matter of trends and problems of the international economy. A case in point is the increased attention both schools devote to the role of technology in shaping patterns of world trade and specialization.
This volume expands and stimulates this discourse on the economics of international relations, including global economic development.