The study of institutions have been a long-standing issue in economics. It was at the core of many significant schools of thought at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th, especially the German Historical School of economics and the American Institutionalism. Though the role and the importance of institutions have been considerably downplayed by 20th century Neoclassical economics, the subject is no longer ignored by mainstream economics, considering for instance the fact that many recent laureates of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences have made significant contributions enhancing our understanding of institutions. It is now well-recognized that institutions, defined as set of rules, social norms, conventions and organizations regulating individual behavior and collective choices, play a huge role in the functioning of market exchanges and the organization of production processes. Institutions regulate for instance interactions between buyers and sellers, between employers and workers, between borrowers and lenders, and so on. Economists now largely agree that institutions are a major factor in explaining economic development as well as wealth distribution. As a result, they are nowadays studied both in a theoretical and in an empirical perspectives, within a great diversity of conceptual and theoretical frameworks and on a basis of econometric and more qualitative tools and methods.
Since its creation in 2005, the Journal of Institutional Economics has become one of the leading publications in economics and the social sciences regarding the many topics related to institutions. Its content reflects the diversity of methods, theories and perspectives that feed the scholarly contributions of economists but also of other social scientists. The purpose of this blog is to contribute the journal’s objective to highlight scientific contributions within institutional economics, taking advantage of the more friendly and accessible format offered by scientific blogs. The blog is planned to feature several kinds of contributions, all of relevance for economists and social scientists with an interest in issues related to institutions, but also for non-academic readers eager to better understand the world they are living in. In particular, you will find here
- News and updates related to the journal and its institutional environment: publication of the last issue, announcement of future special issues, call for papers and communications to workshop and conferences… An updated list will be accessible from the “Editor-in-Chief page” (see the top of the page).
- Summaries of recent and “FirstView” (online) articles that have been accepted in JOIE by their author(s). A list of all the published summaries will be accessible from the “”Recent articles” page.
- Original content dealing with issues related to institutional economics and more generally to institutions. This will include regular posts by the editor of this blog (see the “About this blog” page) but also occasional symposia with invited contributions on a specific topic.
As one of the purposes of this blog is also to initiate discussions and exchanges, most of the content will be open to (moderated) comments. So, do not hesitate to share your thoughts!
Cyril Hédoin
Professor of economics, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (France)
JOIE-Blog Editor