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Topic: Institutional Economics Quiz

The subject of institutional economics is:

a) the productive forces of society;

b) economic resources;

c) institutional economic relations.

The term institutional economics denotes a set of those areas of modern economic theory that combines two common properties, namely:

1. expansion of the subject area of economic theory;

2. modification of the basic assumptions that form the research method.

Domain extension is associated with two additional and closely related areas of analysis:

but). aspects of social life and human behavior that are not directly related to the operation of the market mechanism.

b). institutions that are not customary to study within the framework of neoclassical theory.

Institute - it is any mechanism that ensures the coordination and effective motivation of economic behavior. Thus, the meaning of the existence of institutions lies in the matching of plans (coordination) and the matching of incentives (motivation).

Institutes- a common way of thinking with regard to individual relations between society and the individual and the individual functions performed by them; and the system of life of a society, which is composed of the totality of those active at a certain time or at any moment in the development of any society, can be psychologically characterized in general terms as a prevailing spiritual position or a widespread idea of \u200b\u200bthe way of life in society.

Therefore, the correct answer is: c) institutional economic relations.

What transaction costs are especially high in the Russian economy from the point of view of the theory of agreements?

a) search for information;

b) Monitoring and preventing opportunism;

c) measurements;

d) negotiation;

e) Conclusion of the contract.

The theory of agreements draws attention to the heterogeneity of the economic environment as the main factor in the growth of transaction costs. In the Russian economy, the ratio of agreements is extremely unstable, which prevents economic agents from acting on the basis of generally accepted “rules of the game”.

The bulk of transaction costs in Russia are borne by economic agents themselves, and it is precisely their prohibitively high value per transaction. Indeed, even taking into account that there are no approximate quantitative calculations of the size of the transaction sector in Russia, its significant size is assumed by three approaches to explaining the nature of transaction costs:

1) The theory of transaction costs draws attention to the absence of an information market and the distortion of price signals due to the high degree of market monopolization and structural imbalances.

2) The theory of public choice emphasizes the incompleteness of market formation and the difficulty associated with it to find a replacement for the counterparty to the transaction, the size of the national market and the large number of its participants.

3) The theory of agreements explains the high level of transaction costs by the instability of the ratios of various agreements.

Therefore, the correct answer is: a) seeking information and b) monitoring and preventing opportunism.

What are the main provisions of neo-institutional theory? How do they differ from the basic foundations of neoclassical theory?

Common to all neo-institutionalists is the following:

Social institutions matter;

Institutions are amenable to analysis using the standard tools of microeconomics.

In general, the main preconditions are:

methodological individualism;
concept of economic man;
activity as an exchange.

methodological individualism. In conditions of limited resources, everyone is faced with the choice of one of the available alternatives. Methods for analyzing the market behavior of an individual are universal. They can be successfully applied to any of the areas where a person must make a choice.

The basic premise of neo-institutional theory is that people act in any area in pursuit of their own interests, and that there is no insurmountable line between business and social or politics.

The concept of economic man. The second premise of neo-institutional choice theory is the concept of "economic man". According to this concept, a person in a market economy identifies his preferences with a product. He seeks to make decisions that maximize the value of his utility function. His behavior is rational.

The rationality of the individual has a universal meaning in this theory. This means that all people are guided in their activities primarily by the economic principle, that is, they compare marginal benefits and marginal costs (benefits and costs associated with decision-making).

The neo-institutional theory also considers transaction costs, i.e. costs associated with the exchange of property rights. This happened because any activity is seen as an exchange.

Activity as an exchange. Proponents of neo-institutional theory consider any area by analogy with the commodity market. The state, for example, is an arena of people's competition for influence on decision-making, for access to the distribution of resources, for places in the hierarchical ladder. Its participants have unusual property rights: voters can choose representatives to the highest bodies of the state, deputies - to pass laws, officials - to monitor their implementation. Voters and politicians are treated as individuals exchanging votes and campaign promises.

Neo-institutionalists are more realistic about the features of this exchange, given that people are inherently bounded rationality, and decision-making is associated with risk and uncertainty.

Differences of basic foundations from neoclassical theory:

Firstly, the "old" institutionalists (for example, J. Commons) went to the economy from law and politics, trying to study the problems of modern economic theory using the methods of other social sciences; neo-institutionalists go the exact opposite way - they study political science and legal problems using the methods of neoclassical economic theory, and above all, using the apparatus of modern microeconomics and game theory.

Secondly, traditional institutionalism was based mainly on the inductive method, strove to go from particular cases to generalizations, as a result of which a general institutional theory did not take shape; neo-institutionalism follows a deductive path - from general principles neoclassical economic theory to explain the specific phenomena of social life.

Thirdly, the "old" institutionalism, as a trend of radical economic thought, paid primary attention to the actions of collectives (trade unions and the government) to protect the interests of the individual; Neo-institutionalism, on the other hand, puts at the forefront an independent individual who, of his own free will and in accordance with his interests, decides which collectives it is more profitable for him to be a member of.

The main content of the neo-institutional theory is:

a) in an attempt to approach the analysis of economic problems using the methods of other sciences;

b) in an attempt to use the methods of neoclassical economic theory to analyze political, legal and other problems;

c) in the development of new positions not related to neoclassical theory?

Features of NIE can be formulated in several provisions:

Firstly, considers a wider range of forms of ownership and contractual forms on the basis of which the exchange is carried out.

Along with private property, collective, state, joint-stock forms of ownership are analyzed and their comparative effectiveness in securing transactions on the market is compared. Such is the research program of property rights theory and optimal contract theory. The theory of the state responsible for the establishment and effective protection of property rights, the theory of public choice.

Its specificity lies in combining elements of both the neoclassical theory of public choice and the "theory of order", which is an integral part of the "old" institutionalism.

Secondly, the concept of information costs is introduced into the neoclassical model, i.e., the costs associated with searching for and obtaining information about a transaction and the situation on the market. Although not directly related to neo-institutionalism, information theory has had a significant impact on its development.

Thirdly, Along with production, or transformation, costs, neo-institutionalists admit the existence of transaction costs. This term, which is central to the theory of transaction costs, refers to all the costs that arise when making a transaction. The new economic history emerged from the application of transaction cost theory and property rights theory to historical analysis.

The main characteristics of the new institutional economics as an emerging research program are outlined and the possibilities of a working model of a person in neoclassical theory are outlined. The content and significance of transaction costs, the relationship with transformation costs are studied, an explanation is offered for the dynamics of the quantitative assessment of transaction costs.

Issues related to the conditions for the emergence of property rights, enforcement of rules, comparative advantages of various property systems; externalities and institutional alternatives that ensure the internalization of these effects; ways to solve the problem of managing the behavior of the performer; types of contracts, institutional arrangements, and institutional changes.

Therefore, the correct answer is: c) in the development of new positions not related to the neoclassical theory.

What direction of institutional theory does R. Coase's theory of transaction costs belong to:

a) old institutionalism;

b) neo-institutional theory;

c) a new institutional theory?

The "Cose theorem", outlined in his article "The Problem of Social Costs" (1960), is one of the most general propositions of the new institutional theory. It is devoted to the problem of externalities. This is the name of the by-products of any activity that relates not to its direct participants, but to third parties.

Today, the Coase theorem is considered one of the most striking achievements of post-war economic thought.

Several important theoretical and practical conclusions follow from it.

First, it reveals the economic meaning of property rights. According to Coase, externalities (i.e. discrepancies between private and social costs and benefits) appear only when property rights are not clearly defined, blurred. When rights are clearly defined, then all externalities (external costs become internal). It is no coincidence that the main field of conflicts in connection with external effects are resources that move from the category of unlimited to the category of rare ones (water, air) and for which there were no property rights in principle before.

Secondly, the Coase theorem deflects accusations of the market in "failures". The way to overcome externalities is through the creation of new property rights in areas where they were not clearly defined. Therefore, external effects and their negative consequences are generated by defective legislation. The Coase Theorem essentially removes the standard accusations of environmental destruction leveled against the market and private property. The opposite conclusion follows from it: it is not excessive, but insufficient development of private property that leads to the degradation of the external environment.

Thirdly, the Coase theorem reveals the key importance of transaction costs. When they are positive, the distribution of property rights ceases to be a neutral factor and begins to influence the efficiency and structure of production.

Fourth, the Coase theorem shows that references to externalities are not sufficient grounds for government intervention. In the case of low transaction costs, it is unnecessary; in the case of high transaction costs, it is by no means always economically justified. State actions are themselves associated with positive transaction costs.

Coase's influence on the development of economic thought was profound and varied. Whole new branches of economic science (the economics of law) have grown out of his work. In a broader sense, his ideas laid the theoretical foundation for the development of the neo-institutional direction.

Therefore, the correct answer is: c) a new institutional theory.

Empirical calculations show that, other things being equal, the share of the shadow sector in the economy of richer regions (with higher GRP- gross regional product) is lower. How can such a fact be explained?

Shadow economy - this is the economic relationship of citizens of society, developing spontaneously, bypassing existing state laws and social rules. The income of this business is hidden, and is not a taxable economic activity. The "shadow" economy can also be characterized as a set of diverse economic relations and unrecorded, unregulated and illegal types of economic activity. But, first of all, the “shadow” economy is the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of commodity and material assets, money and services that are not controlled by society and hidden from it.

defining signs of the shadow economy are evasion of official registration of transactions and enterprises or deliberate distortion of the conditions for their implementation.

IN composition of the shadow economy includes the following segments.

informal economy("grey market") - in principle, legitimate economic transactions, the scale of which is hidden or underestimated by economic entities, such as employment without registration, unregistered repair and construction work, tutoring, leasing real estate and other ways of tax evasion.

criminal economy("black market") - economic activity prohibited by law in any economic system and in the vast majority of countries: drug trafficking, smuggling, prostitution, racketeering, etc.

Fictitious economy - providing bribes, individual benefits and subsidies based on organized corrupt ties.

The scale and structure of the shadow sector largely depends on the economic policy of the state, and the growth of this sector, despite short-term benefits, causes significant damage to society, the authorities should strive to reduce it to a safe size. An important role in this is played by the withdrawal from the “shadow” of the informal segment of the shadow economy. To do this, the payment of taxes by the participants in this segment should be perceived by them as receiving socially significant services from the state (enforcement of contracts through the courts, security of persons and property, development of social infrastructure). To this end, the task of the state is to create a favorable climate for legal entrepreneurial activity: reducing administrative barriers, establishing an acceptable level of taxation. Ensuring compliance by economic agents with contractual obligations, guaranteeing private property.

7. “Imagine: Wasteland. At one end is a carriage. On the other side there are ten people. Signal! - they run to the carriage. Who will ride in it? - the one who rules better? No - the one who runs faster. Who managed to overtake, push everyone; and he can drive very badly. What mechanism for distributing property rights does this passage illustrate the inefficiency of?

a) First come, first use.

b) Free exchange of powers in conditions of high transaction costs.
c) The absence of any exceptions to access to the resource.
d) Free exchange of powers under conditions of transaction costs close to zero.

Answer. but). In the described situation, the first person to gain access to the resource gets the right of ownership. All other potential owners are excluded from the ownership relationship.

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The subject of study of institutional economics and its place in modern economic theory

Volchik V.V.

1. The concept of an institution. The role of institutions in the functioning of the economy

Let's start the study of institutions with the etymology of the word institution.

to institute (eng) - to establish, establish.

The concept of institution was borrowed by economists from social sciences in particular from sociology.

An institution is a set of roles and statuses designed to meet a specific need.

Definitions of institutions can also be found in works of political philosophy and social psychology. For example, the category of institution is one of the central ones in the work of John Rawls "The Theory of Justice".

By institutions, I will understand the public system of rules that define the position and position with the corresponding rights and duties, power and immunity, and the like. These rules specify certain forms of action as permitted and others as forbidden, and they also punish some acts and protect others when violence occurs. As examples, or more general social practices, we can cite games, rituals, courts and parliaments, markets and property systems.

In economic theory, the concept of institution was first included in the analysis by Thorstein Veblen.

Institutions are, in fact, a common way of thinking in regard to the individual relations between society and the individual and the individual functions they perform; and the system of life of a society, which is composed of the totality of those active at a certain time or at any moment in the development of any society, can be psychologically characterized in general terms as the prevailing spiritual position or widespread idea of \u200b\u200bthe way of life in society.

Veblen also understood institutions as:

Habitual ways of responding to stimuli;

The structure of the production or economic mechanism;

The currently accepted system of social life.

Another founder of institutionalism, John Commons, defines an institution as follows:

An institution is a collective action to control, liberate and expand individual action.

Another classic of institutionalism, Wesley Mitchell, has the following definition:

Institutions are the dominant, and highly standardized, social habits.

Currently, within the framework of modern institutionalism, the most common interpretation of the institutions of Douglas North is:

Institutions are the rules, the mechanisms that enforce them, and the norms of behavior that structure the repetitive interactions between people.

The economic actions of an individual do not take place in an isolated space, but in a certain society. And therefore has great importance how society will respond to them. Thus, transactions that are acceptable and profitable in one place may not necessarily be worthwhile even under similar conditions in another. An example of this is the restrictions imposed on the economic behavior of a person by various religious cults.

In order to avoid coordinating many external factors that affect success and the very possibility of making a particular decision, within the framework of the economic and social orders, schemes or algorithms of behavior are developed that are most effective under given conditions. These schemes and algorithms or matrices of individual behavior are nothing but institutions.

2. Institutionalism and neoclassical economics

There are several reasons why neoclassical theory (early 60s) ceased to meet the requirements placed on it by economists who tried to comprehend the real events in modern economic practice:

1. Neoclassical theory is based on unrealistic assumptions and limitations, and therefore it uses models that are inadequate to economic practice. Coase called this neoclassical state of affairs "chalkboard economics."

2. Economic science expands the range of phenomena (for example, such as ideology, law, norms of behavior, family) that can be successfully analyzed from the point of view of economic science. This process was called "economic imperialism". The leading representative of this trend is Nobel laureate Harry Becker. But for the first time, Ludwig von Mises, who proposed the term "praxeology" for this, wrote about the need to create a general science that studies human action.

3. Within the framework of neoclassicism, there are practically no theories that satisfactorily explain the dynamic changes in the economy, the importance of studying which became relevant against the backdrop of the historical events of the 20th century. (In general, within the framework of economic science until the 80s of the 20th century, this problem was considered almost exclusively within the framework of Marxist political economy).

Now let's dwell on the main premises of the neoclassical theory, which make up its paradigm (hard core), as well as the "protective belt", following the methodology of science put forward by Imre Lakatos:

Hard core:

1. stable preferences that are endogenous;

2. rational choice (maximizing behavior);

3. equilibrium in the market and general equilibrium in all markets.

Protective belt:

1. Ownership rights remain unchanged and clearly defined;

2. The information is completely accessible and complete;

3. Individuals satisfy their needs through exchange, which occurs without cost, taking into account the initial distribution.

The research program on Lakatos, while leaving the rigid core intact, should be aimed at clarifying, developing existing ones or putting forward new auxiliary hypotheses that form a protective belt around this core.

If the hard core is modified, then the theory is replaced by a new theory with its own research program.

Let us consider how the premises of neo-institutionalism and classical old institutionalism affect the neoclassical research program.

3. Old and new institutionalism

The "old" institutionalism, as an economic trend, arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was closely associated with the historical trend in economic theory, with the so-called historical and new historical school (F. List, G. Schmoler, L. Bretano, K. Bucher). From the very beginning of its development, institutionalism was characterized by the advocacy of the idea of social control and the intervention of society, mainly the state, in economic processes. This was the legacy of the historical school, whose representatives not only denied the existence of stable deterministic relationships and laws in the economy, but also supported the idea that the well-being of society can be achieved on the basis of strict state regulation of the nationalist economy.

The most prominent representatives of the "Old Institutionalism" are: Thorstein Veblen, John Commons, Wesley Mitchell, John Galbraith. Despite the significant range of problems covered in the works of these economists, they failed to form their own unified research program. As Coase noted, the work of the American institutionalists led nowhere because they lacked a theory to organize the mass of descriptive material.

The old institutionalism criticized the provisions that constitute the "hard core of neoclassicism." In particular, Veblen rejected the concept of rationality and the principle of maximization corresponding to it as fundamental in explaining the behavior of economic agents. The object of analysis is institutions, and not human interactions in space with restrictions that are set by institutions.

Also, the works of the old institutionalists are distinguished by significant interdisciplinarity, being, in fact, continuations of sociological, legal, statistical studies in their application to economic problems.

The forerunners of neo-institutionalism are economists of the Austrian school, in particular Karl Menger and Friedrich von Hayek, who introduced the evolutionary method into economics and also raised the question of the synthesis of many sciences studying society.

Modern neo-institutionalism originates from the pioneering works of Ronald Coase, The Nature of the Firm, The Problem of Social Costs.

Neo-institutionalists attacked, first of all, the provisions of neoclassicism, which constitute its defensive core.

1) First, the premise that exchange occurs without cost has been criticized. Criticism of this position can be found in the first works of Coase. Although, it should be noted that Menger wrote about the possibility of the existence of exchange costs and their influence on the decisions of exchanging subjects in his Foundations of Political Economy.

Economic exchange occurs only when each of its participants, by carrying out the act of exchange, receives some increment of value to the value of the existing set of goods. This is proved by Karl Menger in his Foundations of Political Economy, based on the assumption that there are two participants in the exchange. The first has a good A, which has a value W, and the second has a good B with the same value W. As a result of the exchange that took place between them, the value of the goods at the disposal of the first will be W + x, and the second - W + y. From this we can conclude that in the process of exchange the value of the good for each participant increased by a certain amount. This example shows that the activity associated with the exchange is not a waste of time and resources, but the same productive activity as the production of material goods.

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Subject and Method of Institutional Economics

The main differences between the information economy and the industrial economy

Conclusion

Literature

Subject and Method of Institutional Economics

institutionalism economics informational industrial

The term "economy" is used to refer to two different concepts. First, the economy is a sphere of social life in which goods are created, distributed and used, that is, objects necessary for a person to live and develop.

In this case, the economy is an objective reality that does not depend on any subjective assessments. It is practical economics.

An integral element of practical economics is an economic phenomenon - a stable process that can be identified and investigated by empirical methods (from the Greek empeiria - experience). The relationship between economic phenomena is subject to objective laws: physical, logical, mathematical, etc. Therefore, all economic phenomena related to one society and one period of time are consistent with each other and cannot contradict each other.

Secondly, economics is a science that studies the processes of creation, distribution and use of goods.

In this case, the economy is a product of consciousness, dependent on unique personal qualities human, and therefore subjective. It is theoretical economics, the object of its study is practical economics.

In theoretical economics, there are simultaneously contradictory theories. That theory, which finds a significant number of supporters among economists and at the same time serves as the basis for creating a system of theories consistent with each other, gives rise to an economic school. Examples of economic schools opposing each other are: classics and socialists, Keynesians and monetarists, etc. Economic schools that have common basic provisions form a direction in economic science. There are two main directions: liberal and social-institutional. The liberal direction includes physiocrats, classical political economy, Malthusianism, marginalism, neoclassical school, monetarism, economic imperialism, etc.

Towards a social-institutional direction - utopian socialism, Marxism, the historical school and institutionalism.

The empirical basis of each economic school is some economic phenomenon, which, according to the adherents of this school, appears to be the most important, i.e., determines the functioning of the entire economic system. This phenomenon is called economic dominance. If a given economic phenomenon objectively plays a dominant role in practical economics, then the economic school usually occupies a dominant position in theoretical economics, that is, it becomes dominant. If over a long historical period successive ideas belong to one direction, then it becomes the dominant direction. In economics, for the past three centuries, the liberal direction has dominated, therefore it is also defined as the mainstream (English mainstream - the mainstream). The economic dominant, common to all liberal schools, is expressed in the decisive significance of the production of material goods, or industrial production. Therefore, the system of liberal economic theories can be characterized as the theory of industrial economics, or simply as industrial economics. In other words, industrial economics is the economic theory of industrial society. The industrial economy is considered to be a traditional economy.

Among the representatives of each economic school there are scientists who do not recognize the right to the existence of alternative economic theories and identify the name of their school with economic science as a whole. This trend is most pronounced among supporters of the mainstream liberal trend. Thus, the term economics (from the English economics - economic theory), introduced by A. Marshall to denote neoclassical theory, is now often used as a synonym for economic science. At the same time, the economy is incorrectly identified with the industrial economy.

The stage of development of the economy is called the historical period, characterized by any one dominant. At each stage, a dominant school develops which has established the dominant economic phenomenon as the empirical basis of its theories. The name of an economic school often contains an indication of the corresponding economic dominant, for example:

* mercantilism. This term is derived from English word merchant, meaning "merchant". The economic dominant is the formation of markets, the expansion of the sphere of trade. The heyday of this school is the 17th century;

* physiocracy translated from Greek as "the power of nature." The economic dominant is the predominance of agricultural labor. Heyday - the second half of the XVIII century., France;

* classical school It is built on the postulate of labor value, which affirms physical labor as the only source of value. The economic dominant is the predominance of physical labor and manufactory production. Heyday - the second half of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, England.

Institutional economics is a theory in which the empirical basis, or economic dominant, is an institution - a historically established social tradition.

The founder of the school of institutionalism is the American economist and sociologist T. Veblen (1857-1929), who outlined the main ideas of the school in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class. Institutional economics originated in late XIX century, when in the advanced countries cultural factors began to have an increasingly noticeable impact on the economy, and the postulates of the industrial economy were less and less consistent with the realities of social life. It became obvious that the transition of society from the industrial stage of development to a new stage, which has not yet received a generally recognized name, has begun. The new society is defined as:

* new industrial (J. Galbraith),

* post-industrial (D. Bell),

* Third Wave Society (E. Toffler),

* risk society (W. Beck),

* informational (M. Castells),

* individualized (3. Bauman).

Institutionalists who adhere to the informational approach to the definition of an institution characterize the new economy as informational. At the same time, the institution is considered as specific knowledge, and its influence on the economic life of society - as a specific information process.

The main differences between the information economy and the industrial economy

Let's compare the main provisions of the industrial (traditional) economy and the information economy coming to replace it.

1) Product. The dominant type of product in an industrial society is a material object, and in the information society - an information object, devoid of material form.

2) Work. The dominant type of labor in an industrial society is simple (physical, manual, routine, unskilled) labor, which is recognized as productive labor. At the same time, creative work is considered unproductive. In the information society, on the contrary, creative work dominates. It is considered productive, and simple labor is considered unproductive.

3) Capital. The dominant type of capital in an industrial society is materialized (external) capital: buildings, machine tools, machines, etc. In the information society, intellectual (internal) capital, i.e. education, experience, health, etc., plays the most important role. The first theory of internal capital is the theory of human capital by the American economist G. Becker.

Table 1 - Institutionalism as a stage in the development of economic science

economic phenomenon	Economic theory	School head
Formation	Mercantilism	A. Montchretien
domination agricultural labor	Physiocracy		Second half of the 18th century
domination manual labor	classical school		Second half 18th century -- first half of the 19th century
market crisis	Marxism		Mid 19th century
Ascending consumption	Austrian school	K. Menger	Second half
Self-regulation economy	neoclassical school	A. Marshall	Second half
Influence of culture on the economy	institutionalism	T. Veblen	End of the 19th century -- early 20th century
State intervention	Keynesianism	J. Keynes	Mid 20th century

4) Wealth. In an industrial society, wealth is understood as material values belonging to a person, such wealth is external in relation to a person. Physical capital is an integral part of material wealth. In the information society, wealth is understood as the inner wealth of a person - the system of his personal qualities. Human capital is an integral part of internal wealth. External wealth can be alienated from a person, internal wealth cannot.

5) Value. In an industrial economy, the social value of a good is determined by its market price, i.e., the ability of a good to increase a person's material wealth. In the classical school, which forms the basis of the theory of industrial economics, value appears as labor value. It is equal to the amount of simple labor expended on the manufacture of the product. In the information economy, the social value of a good is determined by its ability to increase the duration of a person's higher activity.

6) Needs. In the theory of industrial economy, consumption is understood as the intended use of a material product. Therefore, the needs are grouped on the basis of the classification of material goods. It is argued that a person has many needs, each of which is assigned to a certain class of goods: the need for food, clothing, housing, etc. In the theory of information economy, consumption is understood as the use of a product (material or informational) in order to expand the sphere of higher activity.

7) welfare. In an industrial society, human well-being is measured by the flow of material goods (cash income), and social well-being is measured by the amount of national income over a certain period of time. Material well-being is also called economic. The theory of economic well-being was created by the English economist A. Pigou (1877 - 1959). In the information society, human well-being is measured by the flow of creative benefits (periods of creativity), and public well-being is measured by the total duration creative activity all members of society for a specific period of time. Welfare is called creative.

8) Money. In an industrial society, welfare has a monetary form, so money serves as the ultimate goal of the economic activity of economic entities. In the information society, the ultimate goal of a person is higher activity, and money acts as a means of increasing creative well-being.

9) Social interactions. In any society, the functioning of the economy is based on social interactions - the joint social actions of individuals, as a result of which their well-being changes. Industrial society is dominated by interactions in the form of commodity exchange - depersonalized and mediated by monetary circulation. The information society is dominated by social interactions in the form of information exchange of products of creative work. These interactions are interpersonal in nature and are divided into direct (for example, communication) and mediated by cultural institutions (for example, writing a book).

10) human model. The theory of industrial economy is based on the "economic man" model, while institutional economics is based on the "institutional man" model.

Table 2 - Information economy and industrial economy

	Economy
	industrial	informational
	Material	Informational
		Creative
	Physical	Human
Wealth		internal
Value	labor costs	Creativity time
Needs
welfare	economic	Creative
		Means
Social	Commodity	interpersonal

Economics, like any science, uses two types of research methods: private and general. Private methods are used only in economics, while general methods are used in other sciences as well. The interaction of system elements is the most important object of research in any science.

Mechanics studies the interactions of physical bodies, chemistry - substances, biology - living organisms, ecology - man and nature, philosophy - matter and consciousness, etc. If the interaction of elements in different sciences is similar, then these sciences use common research methods. For example, the interaction of substances in a living organism has common features with their interaction with inanimate nature. Usage common methods research led in this case to the creation of a mixed discipline - biochemistry.

Table 3 - The difference between "institutional man" and "economic man"


	"economic"	"institutional"
	Industrial	Informational
Philosophy	Individualism	Solidarity
human model	mechanistic	organic
Interaction	Commodity	interpersonal
Behavior	Rational	institutional
	Maximization	Harmonization
	determined

Economics studies the interactions of economic entities that occur during the creation, distribution and use of goods. The nature of such interactions is determined by the level of development of society. In the primitive era, biological traits dominate in a person, therefore social interactions are impersonal in nature and, in fact, represent a metabolism - both organic (during reproduction) and physical (during joint labor activity). In the industrial era, the exchange of material products of manual labor becomes the dominant form of interaction, due to which economic processes in an industrial society are successfully described and studied by the methods of mechanics, which widely uses mathematical tools.

Therefore, the industrial economy has a mechanistic character, that is, it is a mechanistic economy.

In the information age, the interaction of economic entities, which are interpersonal in nature, is an information exchange of products of creative activity between unique individuals. Such interactions are traditionally studied within the framework of sociology, therefore, institutional economics as an economic theory of the information society has a sociological character, that is, it is a sociological economy.

Let us consider the main methods of research of institutional economics and industrial economics and conduct them comparative analysis.

1) Organic Approach is basic methodological principle institutionalism, it opposes the mechanistic approach of traditional economic theory, according to which economic entities are likened to independent physical bodies, chaotically interacting (competing) with each other. The creators of the organic approach to the study of social phenomena are H. Spencer and E. Durkheim.

Their views are summarized below.

G. Spencer (1820 - 1903) - English philosopher, founder of the organic school in philosophy. According to Spencer, there is an analogy between the political body and the living individual. Societies converge with individual organisms in four ways:

a) both of them increase many times in size in the process of development;

b) their structure is becoming more and more complex. This progressive transition from simple to complex is feature, which distinguishes living bodies from inanimate bodies;

c) the parts become more and more interdependent, and in the end the life and activity of each part is determined by the life and activity of other parts. The economic division of labor is analogous to the "physiological division of labor" between the organs of higher animals. The well-being of each person is "more and more closely connected with the well-being of all";

d) the life and development of an organism (society) are independent of the life and development of any of its constituent units and are much longer than the existence of these units. In no other body, except for the organic and social, is there this uninterrupted dropping out and replacement of parts with the continuing indestructibility of the whole.

The circulation of products in society performs the same role as the circulation of blood in a living organism. Every action presupposes a certain expenditure of forces; blood brings the materials needed to make up for this cost, so that the organ can develop. What is called profit in commercial matters corresponds to the surplus of nourishment over the expenditure of forces in the living body. The mass of nutrients in circulation becomes more heterogeneous in composition, gradually a new element appears in it, which is not nutritious in itself, but facilitates the process of nutrition. In the individual organism it is blood globules, but in the social organism it is money. In many lower animals, the blood does not contain blood globules, and in societies at a low level of civilization, there is no money.

Spencer draws an analogy between the control system in society and the nervous system in an animal organism. That member of the governing class who becomes the main agent, like the primary nerve center in a developing organism, is, as a rule, a person endowed with some superiority of the nervous system. Just as it is natural for each individual node to be excited only by special stimuli from certain parts of the body, so it is natural for each individual ruler to succumb in his actions to the influence of exclusively personal and class interests. Spencer writes: “... a good brain is one in which the desires corresponding to these various interests are balanced so that the course of action caused by them does not sacrifice any of them for the others. A parliament is considered good in which the parties are so balanced that their collective legislation gives each estate as much power as is compatible with the rights of the other estates. The progressive improvement of a living organism is manifested in the emergence of nerve threads, which are similar to the means of communication in society.

The progress of society is carried out according to the same laws as the progress of the organic world. In both cases, the simple develops into the complex through a series of differentiations. The transformation of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous is the essence of progress. Possess a great variety of feelings, instincts, powers and abilities; to have a more complex arrangement of features and accessories means to differ more sharply from creatures of every other kind, to reveal a more definite individuality. All transformations in human affairs lead to a further development of the same faculty: they may be called the striving for individualization. Man's progress consists in those inner changes, the expression of which is increasing knowledge.

E. Durkheim (1858 - 1917) - the founder of the French sociological school. According to Durkheim, the function of the division of labor is to create a sense of solidarity between two or more individuals. It binds together individuals who would otherwise be independent; instead of developing separately, they combine their efforts; their solidarity extends far beyond short moments of exchange of favors. Thus, the division of sexual labor is the source of marital solidarity. Man and woman seek each other precisely because they are different. Not the similarity, but the difference of the natures connected by this attraction gives it its energy. Durkheim distinguishes two types of solidarity:

· Mechanical solidarity, or solidarity by similarities, is due to the fact that a certain number of states of consciousness is common to all members of society.

The bond that links the individual to society in this way is quite analogous to that that links the thing to the person. The individual does not belong to himself - it is literally a thing that society disposes of.

· organic solidarity, or the solidarity brought about by the division of labor, is possible only on the condition that each individual has his own sphere of action, and hence his personality.

This solidarity is similar to the solidarity seen in higher animals. Each organ has autonomy, and the unity of the organism is the greater, the more clearly this individualization of parts is manifested. During social evolution mechanical solidarity is weakening, while organic solidarity is increasing. The same law that governs biological development animal world. Every part of the animal, having become an organ, has a corresponding sphere of activity where it functions independently, and at the same time other organs depend on it much more than before, since they cannot separate without risking death.

Every society moral society and altruism will always be the foundation of social life. People cannot live without mutual agreements and therefore mutual sacrifices, without being connected to each other in a strong and lasting way. The individual learns to evaluate himself according to the true value as part of the whole, as an organ of a single organism. Competition between individuals weakens with the development of the division of labor. In the animal kingdom, the competition between two organisms is the stronger, the more similar they are. Having the same needs, pursuing the same goals, they are rivals everywhere. People are subject to the same law: a priest strives for moral authority, an industrialist for wealth, a scientist for scientific fame, etc. Each of them can achieve his goal without interfering with others.

The division of labor progresses as the number of individuals who are in sufficient contact to be able to influence and react to each other increases. This rapprochement and the active relations that flow from it is the dynamic or moral density of society. Thus, the progress of the division of labor is directly proportional to the moral density of society.

2) inductive method. The economic theories of the traditional (liberal) direction are built according to the deductive principle "from the general to the particular": the main theoretical provisions are derived through a formal-logical analysis of the system of initial postulates that do not have a serious empirical justification. Institutional economics, on the contrary, is built on the inductive principle “from particular to general”: the main theoretical provisions are derived on the basis of systematization and analysis of a large amount of empirical data.

Among the institutionalists, the most consistent supporter of the empirical approach was the American economist W. Mitchell (1874 - 1948), the author of such works as "Business cycles: the problem and its formulation" (1927), "Measuring economic cycles" (1946). Mitchell's critics called his method "measurement without theory".

The deductive method of constructing economic theory assumes the possibility of the existence of universal laws that are valid for any society and in any era. Examples of such laws are the labor theory of value (among the classics), the law of falling marginal utility (among the marginalists), and the law of diminishing returns (among the neoclassicals). The system of laws of traditional economics is similar to the system of universal laws of mechanics that have a global character (Newton's laws, the law of conservation of energy, etc.). The inductive method of constructing economic theory rejects the possibility of the existence of universal laws. It is assumed that each identified pattern or trend has spatial, temporal, national, class and other boundaries. If economic laws exist, then they are local, and the theoretical and practical conclusions arising from them are not absolute, but relative (relativistic) in nature. Thus, the inductive approach of institutionalists is based on the principles of empiricism, locality and relativism.

3) Interdisciplinary approach. Within the framework of the liberal direction of economic thought, a narrow economic approach to the study of social phenomena dominates. On the early stages the formation of the mainstream, this approach was expressed in the fact that in order to explain social phenomena that go beyond the scope of economic life, the provisions of related social sciences were usually not involved, but some postulates were accepted that were considered obvious, and therefore were not subject to discussion. The results of other sciences were attracted by economists only when they served as a justification or illustration of the accepted postulates.

An example is Fechner's law, according to which the strength of an animal's reaction to a stimulus decreases with each repetition of it for a certain period of time. The English marginalist W. Jevons used this law to substantiate the law of diminishing marginal utility, the most important postulate of the industrial economy.

The method of postulating economic phenomena adopted by supporters of traditional economics is essentially related to the method of axiomatic construction of mathematical theories (an example is Euclidean geometry, built on well-known postulates). Because of this, the methods of mathematical analysis are successfully used in traditional economics to obtain and prove theoretical positions. At the same time, the use of mathematics in economics does not indicate the presence of interdisciplinary connections, since in this case there is no borrowing of substantive provisions related to public life.

Mechanics, like mathematics, is built on a system of postulates, and in its content is neutral in relation to social phenomena. However, she describes the simplest form the movement of matter, which also manifests itself in public life. Because of this, some social processes have common features with mechanical processes (for example, free competition), which predetermined the well-known influence of mechanics on the development of the economy. But since economics did not actually influence the development of mechanics, there is no interdisciplinary connection between these two sciences.

The method of postulating social phenomena is tantamount to a passive denial of the influence of related sciences on the development of the economy. In the second half of the XX century. Within the framework of the mainstream, a trend has emerged for the further development of a narrow economic approach. It lies in the fact that now, in addition to the method of postulating social phenomena, the method of explaining them with the help of purely economic tools has also begun to be applied.

This trend, which means a transition to an active denial of the role of related sciences in the development of the economy, has received the name of economic imperialism.

The founder of economic imperialism is G. Becker (born 1930), author of The Economic Theory of Discrimination (1957), Human Capital (1964), The Theory of Time Allocation (1965), Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach ( 1968), An Economic Approach to Human Behavior (1976), Treatise on the Family (1981). In 1992, G. Becker received the Nobel Prize in Economics for expanding the scope of microeconomic analysis. He created economic theories of racial discrimination, human capital, crime, fertility, family, etc. For example, Becker considers smoking as a rational choice for a person who decides to increase the intensity of pleasure by reducing his life expectancy.

Table 4 - Methods of institutional economics and industrial economics

Since sociology is a generalizing social science that studies all forms of interpersonal interactions, of all related sciences, it has the greatest interdisciplinary impact on institutional economics, in which sociological methods are widely used, in particular:

a) personal approach. The central object of study of institutional economics is a unique individual endowed with a complex system of psychological motives. The emphasis is on the diversity of people's qualities, not on their similarities. In the industrial economy, the individual is seen as an abstract "economic man", devoid of individuality and endowed with a single psychological motive. The central object of study is not the individual, but the profit maximizing firm;

b) group approach. The diversity of personal qualities of individuals predetermines their integration into various social groups, which are not considered in the industrial economy based on the philosophy of individualism. The group approach contradicts the mechanistic interpretation of social life adopted in the traditional economy;

c) sociometric approach. Quantitative indicators characterizing significant economic phenomena can be obtained on the basis of subjective assessments of people with the help of sociological surveys. In the industrial economy, the system of indicators is built on the principle of objectivity: the subjective opinions of people are excluded from the calculation algorithms. An example is the value of the gross domestic product, the main measure of social welfare.

Conclusion

The relationships between the directions of modern institutionalism are multifaceted, complex and often difficult to identify, their assessment depends both on the understanding of each of the directions separately, and on the context of comparison and the field of phenomena being studied.

On the present stage development of institutional economic theory, it is very difficult to talk about a single subject of this important and interesting science. This circumstance is associated with the diversity of ideas about subject areas, and with the heterogeneity of the methods and models used.

Understanding the essence and interrelationships between the concepts and ideas of representatives of institutionalism will make it possible to better understand not only the nature of economic phenomena themselves, but also the possibilities and prospects for the development of economic theory based on the exchange of ideas between various research programs.

In addition, modern institutional theory and all its areas can become a fruitful base for numerous applied research in those areas of economic activity that are currently understudied. Even now, institutional theory has various areas of application, which O. Williamson combined into three main areas. The first has to do with functional areas, the second with applications to related disciplines, and the third with applications to economic policy issues. Within the framework of the first direction, O. Williamson lists six functional areas: finance, marketing, comparison of economic systems, economic development, business strategies, business history. For example, the comparative analysis of economic systems has been developed in the process of studying the problems of economic history and modern systems by analyzing the influence of institutions on the economic development of many countries. With the help of institutionalism, issues that are traditional for related disciplines are studied: political science, sociology, jurisprudence, the theory of international relations, etc. For example, the processes of institutional changes are studied through lawmaking, including in terms of applying methods for creating regulatory legal acts that meet the principles of institutional design . The third kind of application of institutionalism is its application to various areas of public policy. The most studied institutionalism can be considered antitrust policy and economic regulation. The researchers conclude that there are significant prospects for the development of institutionalism, not only in terms of theoretical activity and the study of topical problems of entrepreneurship, economic policy, but also research in related disciplinary areas.

Literature

1) Auzan A. A. Institutional economics. New institutional economic theory / A. A. Auzan. - M. : INFRA-M, 2010.

2) Korneichuk B. V. Institutional economics: textbook. allowance for universities / B. V. Korneichuk. - M.: Gardariki, 2007. - 255 p.

3) Litvintseva G. P. Institutional economic theory: textbook / G. P. Litvintseva. - Novosibirsk: Publishing house of NGTU, 2009. - 336 p.

4) Nureev R. M. Course of microeconomics: a textbook for universities / R. M. Nureev. -- 2nd ed.: NORMA, 2007. -- 560 p.

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Definition of an institution

Institute - the rules of interaction of individuals accepted in society, which have developed in the process of cultural development and determine the usual way of organizing this or that sphere of public life.

A separate institution establishes a way of organizing a certain limited sphere of public life, and all existing institutions jointly characterize the way of organizing public life as a whole. The institutions that determine the way of organizing economic life are called economic.

The above definition of an institution includes several particular definitions, each of which is incomplete, i.e. reflects only one aspect of the phenomenon under consideration. Each such definition is formulated within the framework of a particular approach to the definition of an institution. Let's consider these approaches.

normative approach. The institution is seen as an externally imposed rule that regulates human behavior. In this case, the institution acts as some external constraint on the freedom of choice of a person. Forms of regulation are usually distinguished by the degree of rigidity and the degree of formalization. The rigidity of the regulatory rule is characterized by the significance for the individual of external negative consequences resulting from the violation of this rule. Formalized ^ regulatory rule is characterized by the degree of participation of the power structures of society in the process of regulating the behavior of the individual and his punishment. Institutes with a high degree formalized™ are called formal, and institutions with a low degree of formalized™ are called informal. The most famous example of a formal institution is the rules for the functioning of the system of state power, enshrined in the relevant laws. The negative consequences arising from the violation of formal regulations usually take the form of administrative or criminal penalties. An example of an informal institution is the tradition of greeting people you know. The immediate consequences that result from violating informal regulations usually take the form of social stigmatization.

ethical approach. An institution is considered as an ethical (moral, moral, value) position of a person, which influences his choice of one behavioral alternative from a variety of available alternatives. An ethical position allows a person to arrange the alternatives of behavior at his disposal according to the degree of preference and choose the most acceptable of them, i.e. "the very best." It is assumed that in addition to the ethical views of a person, no other factors influence his choice. The ethical position of a person is, in fact, his internal limiter when choosing options for behavior. In this sense, the ethical approach to the definition of an institution is close to the normative approach discussed above. However, there is a fundamental difference between these approaches: the norm of behavior is imposed on a person by the external environment, and the ethical position is an internal limiter of a person that he follows voluntarily. If for any reason a person is forced to commit an act that contradicts his ethical position, then he experiences the negative consequences of this step in the form of psychological discomfort due to his conscience. The stronger the impact of psychological discomfort, the greater the impact on a person's behavior is his ethical views. And, conversely, a person's lack of conscience is tantamount to his lack of ethical views.

There is a close relationship between external norms and the ethical position of a person. In the process of historical development, many external norms prove their social utility, are gradually accepted by people as ethical beliefs, and are carried out voluntarily. This process is called the institutionalization of the external norm. On the contrary, the ethical norms assimilated by people in the course of the development of culture often take the form of external norms, and then the violation of ethical principles by a person entails not only punishment in the form of “remorse,” but also external punishment in the form of social condemnation, imprisonment, etc.

Information approach. The Institute is considered as a specific knowledge that has been developed by many generations of people, assimilated by the living generation and contains recommended norms of behavior. At all times, people analyzed various patterns of behavior, compared them with each other and chose the most preferable from their point of view. This kind of analysis, carried out by any particular person, is a personal information product of his highest activity. In the course of social history, accumulation, systematization and generalization of such information products took place, as a result of which knowledge was created - an information product of many people, which has a high social significance and is constantly reproduced by the cultural mechanisms of society. The institution, considered as knowledge, is not just a list of norms of behavior developed in the process of social development. It usually also contains some rationale for the appropriateness of the proposed behavior patterns. This justification can be of a different nature: from blind faith and delusion to a scientifically proven fact. For example, the need to brush your teeth has a scientific justification. And the need to knock on wood to avoid trouble is justified with the help of ingrained prejudice.

Within the framework of the considered informational approach to the definition of an institution, the concept of culture plays a central role - a social mechanism for the exchange, storage, reproduction and selection of information products. Through culture, a person institutionalizes the norms of behavior developed by previous generations. At the same time, a personal information product, having entered the cultural environment, can replenish the stock of specific knowledge about the organization of social life and thereby lead to a change in social institutions. Thus, between the individual and the cultural environment of society there is an interchange of information, which ultimately leads to their mutual influence and mutual change. This process is schematically shown in Fig. 1.1. Solid vertical arrows depict the process of institutionalization by individuals A and B of established institutions. The dotted vertical arrows show the influence that these individuals can have on the formation of social institutions through their personal information products.

Horizontal arrows depict the process of interpersonal interaction of individuals.

Rice. 1.1.

evolutionary approach to the definition of an institution is a development of the informational approach discussed above. Each acting institution is considered as a product of the historical process of natural selection of institutions, i.e. their evolutionary process. The concept of the evolution of institutions is borrowed from general biology and implies that an institution is similar to the gene of an animal organism: it is characterized by a large amount of hereditary information that can change and be transmitted in the form of new institutions in the course of interaction with other institutions, which is in the nature of a struggle for survival.

At present, the evolutionary approach is mainly used to analyze the behavior of economic entities. The general term for all normal and predictable patterns of behavior of economic entities is routine - a set of "internal" institutions of an economic entity. Routines play the same role in evolutionary theory as genes do in biological evolutionary theory. They are integral characteristics of an economic entity and determine its possible behavior (although the actual behavior is also determined by the environment). They are inherited in the sense that the economic entities of tomorrow have many of the same characteristics as those of today's entities that gave birth to them. Routines are subject to selection in the sense that economic entities with certain routines may perform better than others, and if so, their relative importance in the population (industry) increases with time. The concept of routine change is the obvious analogue of mutation in biological evolutionary theory.

Game approach. Institutions are seen as the rules of a certain game that an individual plays with other individuals. The game approach is based on several simplifying assumptions. First, the behavior of each individual is aimed at maximizing a certain quantitative indicator. Secondly, in each period of time, the individual's behavior is expressed in his choice of one behavior option from a given set options which he cannot change. The chosen behavior is called the player's move. Thirdly, the individual knows all the possible moves of the individuals playing the game with him. Fourthly, the individual makes a choice of a move under conditions of uncertainty, i.e. he does not know in advance the moves of his opponents. Fifth, usually consider a game with two players. These assumptions are not realistic, but nevertheless they allow one to carry out theoretical analysis some aspects of the functioning of institutions using the mathematical theory of games, which is widely used in modern economics. Suffice it to say that for their work in the field of application of game theory to the analysis of economic phenomena, the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 was awarded to D. Nash, D. Harshanyi and R. Zelten.

Table 1.1

Definition of an institution: different approaches

transactional approach. According to this approach, the scope of the rules of social behavior is limited by the high cost of characteristics or attributes that make it possible to judge whether the relevant rules have been observed or their violation has taken place. The state (principal) oversees the observance of the rules by agents (policemen, judges, etc.), whose work requires payment. Costs of this kind, related to the functioning of institutions, are called transactional. These costs got such a name due to the fact that within the framework of this approach, mainly market institutions are considered, while the market transaction acts as the most important form of social interaction, i.e. deal (from english, transaction - deal).

The mechanism for enforcing rules is usually deficient for two reasons: evaluation is too expensive, and the interests of principals and agents do not coincide. The high cost of valuation makes it necessary to balance the marginal gain from increased control with the accompanying increase in transaction costs. If people believe in the immutability of rules, they will refrain from trying to cheat, steal, etc., and transaction costs will be relatively low. If, on the contrary, people do not believe in the inviolability of the rules, consider them unfair, or simply follow purely self-interest, transaction costs will be relatively large.

Within the framework of the transactional approach, changes in institutions are explained by fundamental changes in the structure of prices. Schematically, this process can be represented as follows. Those involved in the exchange (political or economic) begin to understand that it would be more profitable for them to change the terms of the agreement, taking into account the changed prices. If the renegotiation of the contract requires a change in some fundamental rule, one or both participants in the exchange may incur additional costs in order to change this rule. But it also happens that over time an outdated rule loses its power - they begin to ignore it or do not monitor its observance. The obsolete institution disappears.

For the first time, the transactional approach to the study of institutions was applied by R. Coase (b. 1910). In 1991 he received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on transaction costs and property rights.

contract approach. The Institute is seen as a multilateral agreement (contract) between members of society. This agreement may or may not be binding. It can be both formalized and non-formalized. With this approach, a person's behavior is determined mainly by his obligations to society, which are laid down in the system of existing multilateral contracts. A “contract person” is a person who seeks to fulfill the obligations assigned to him, both public and private.

The creator of the contract approach to the study of social phenomena is the French writer and philosopher J.J. Rousseau (1712-1778). In his treatise On the Social Contract, or Principles of Political Law (1762), he put forward the doctrine of the social contract, explaining the emergence of state power by an agreement between people forced to move from an unprotected state of nature to a civil state.

Sociological approach based on the belief that sociology is the science that studies the most general properties phenomena of human interaction, some aspects of which are studied by special social sciences, including economics. In this sense, economics is a particular branch of sociology. If the economist were to confine himself to considering only economic phenomena, ignoring non-economic phenomena, then instead of laws reflecting the actual relations of economic phenomena, he would formulate only imaginary laws incapable of explaining real economic processes. Willy-nilly, he has to be not only a specialist economist, but also a sociologist, coordinating the relations of the main forms of social life. Proponents of the approach under consideration speak of the existence of a trend of "sociologising" the social sciences. The latter are increasingly imbued with general sociological principles and concepts.

Postulating the supremacy of sociology over economics, the supporters of the sociological approach consider the problem of economic institutions from general sociological positions. At the same time, the central category is social interaction. It is argued that the entire social life and all social processes can be decomposed into phenomena and processes of interaction between two or more individuals. At the same time, by combining various processes of interaction, any complex social process, any social event can be obtained. Interaction processes - individual and mass, long-term and instantaneous, unilateral and bilateral, solidary and antagonistic, etc. - are the threads from the totality of which the fabric of the human community is created. Any social group, any "society" can be formed from the totality of interacting individuals, starting with the "tram" public and ending with such collectives as the state. Thus, the interaction of individuals acts as a generic concept of social phenomena; it can serve as a model for the latter. Because of this, the introduction of the special term "institution" is devoid of significant meaning. An institution is only a form of social interaction.

One of the founders of the social approach to the study of economic institutions is P. Sorokin (1889-1968) - Russian and American sociologist.

Organizational approach considers the institute as an organization, i.e. as a form of internal order, consistency in the interaction of individual parts of the social environment. The term "organization" denotes a wide range of objects of study - from simple rules of individual behavior to systems of rules in the form of collective institutions: an enterprise, a political party, a state.

In modern economics, the organizational approach develops mainly within the framework of economics of approvals, created by the French institutionalists headed by L. Ts veno. This theory is based on the idea of a plurality of ways of coordinating economic activities. Between different "worlds" there is tension, inconsistency, and the enterprise serves as a mechanism for achieving a compromise between them. It enters into relationships that are by no means necessarily market-driven, but rather driven by trust, technological requirements, hierarchy, and so on. In general, recognition of the special active role of organizations runs counter to the dominant neoclassical tradition. The economy of agreements is often referred to as the economy of the organization, the differences between which are very vague due to the fact that the very concepts of "organization" and "institution", according to the Anglo-American tradition, are often used as synonyms. Therefore, the economics of agreements is referred to as "the theory of institutions - the French version."

Institutional economy or institutionalism- the direction of economic thought, formed in the 20-30s of the XX century. to study the totality of socio-economic factors (institutions) in dynamics, as well as to study the social control of society over the economy. institutionalism as the subject of his analysis puts forward both economic and non-economic problems of socio-economic development. Object of study - formal and informal institutions.

There are many definitions of the concept of "institution", of which the following is most often used. Institutes is a system of formal and informal rules that determine the relationship of people in society. Formal institutions - the constitution, laws, decrees, agreements, etc. Informal institutions - customs, traditions, conventions, habits, etc.

In institutional economics, several main directions: traditional institutionalism, new institutional economics (NIE), evolutionary institutionalism, new French institutional economics (NFIET).

Traditional institutionalism arose at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, formed by 1920-1930, played a prominent role in the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s, and is currently being modernized. Traditional institutionalism developed in two stages:

1) old (early) traditional institutionalism;

2) post-war traditional institutionalism.

Main Representatives old institutionalism American economists - T. Veblen ("The Theory of the Leisure Class" - 1899, "The Theories of the Commercial Enterprise" - 1904); D. Commons ("Legal Foundations of Capitalism" - 1924, "Institutional Economics" - 1934); W. Mitchell(Business cycles "- 1913).

The old institutionalists explored three sets of problems:

1) the relationship of labor and capital;

2) the relationship of corporations with small and medium-sized enterprises;

3) contradictions between private and public interests.

Methodological features of the old institutionalists:

· the starting point of the analysis is not individuals, but institutions, i.e. the characteristics of individuals are inferred from the characteristics of institutions;

· interdisciplinary approach - consideration of economic processes with the involvement of data from sociology, psychology, political science, law;

· evolutionary principle in the analysis of economic phenomena, studying them in development;

· the principle of historicism, expressed in the desire to identify the driving forces and factors of development, the main trends of social evolution;

· focusing on the actions of collectives (first of all, trade unions and the state) to protect the interests of individuals;

· the use, mainly, of the inductive method of research, consisting in the desire to go from particular cases to generalizations;

· application of the empirical method of research, specific analysis using extensive statistical and factual material.

Post-war traditional institutionalism formed in the 1950s and 70s. Main representatives: D. Galbraith(USA, "Affluent Society" - 1958, "New Industrial Society" - 1967, "Economic Theories and Society Goals" - 1973); G. Myrdal(Sweden, "Asian drama: a study of the poverty of peoples" - 1968); A. Lewis(Great Britain, "The Theory of Economic Growth" - 1959).

Post-war institutionalists explored the following issues:

1. the contradictions of Western society, a deep discrepancy between the level of technology development and the created social institutions, the desire to implement the idea of social control over production through planning;

2. problems of economic power (forms, scales, methods of implementation, power at the micro and macro levels, the relationship between economic and political power), problems of the impact of the state on the development of the economy, the development of practical measures to address the social problems of developed countries;

3. problems of developing countries, an attempt to develop recommendations for overcoming the backwardness inherited by developing countries from colonialism.

The differences between post-war institutionalism and the old one are as follows:

Changing the nature of large corporations. The theoretical rehabilitation of big business, since scientific and technological progress was associated with it;

· ideas about the ongoing transformation of capitalism, associated with the doctrine of the democratization of ownership of capital;

· characterization of the socio-economic system of capitalism as a qualitatively new stage - "people's capitalism", "welfare society";

· cardinal changes in the role of the state, the main goal is to ensure "welfare for all members of society." On this basis, various theories of "social control" have been developed.

New Institutional Economics (NIE) formed in the 1960s-90s.

Main representatives: R. Coase ( Great Britain, USA, "The nature of the firm" - 1937, "The problem of social costs" - 1960, "The firm, market and law" - 1993); D. North (USA, "Institutions, institutional changes and the functioning of the economy" - 1990); K. Menard (Canada, Economics of Organizations - 1996).

Methodological features of NIE:

· consistently used the principle of methodological individualism, which consists in the fact that institutions are secondary in relation to individuals. The focus is on the relationships that develop within economic organizations, while in neoclassical theory, organizations were considered as a “black box”;

· economic agents operate in a world of positive transaction costs (costs arising from the conclusion of contracts), insufficiently defined property rights, in a world of institutional realities full of risk and uncertainty;

Two behavioral assumptions are applied: bounded rationality and opportunistic behavior. The first reflects the fact that the human intellect is limited. The knowledge and information that a person has are always incomplete, he cannot completely process the information and interpret it in relation to all situations of choice;

· a comparative-institutional approach is used, i.e. assessments of existing institutions are based on comparisons not with ideal models, but with alternatives that are feasible in practice.

Within the NIE there are various modern directions: economic theory of property rights; economic theory of transaction costs; economic theory of contracts; theory of economic organizations; economics of law; economic theory of public choice; new economic history.

The central concept in property rights theory are the "property rights" themselves, which are understood as sanctioned behavioral relations between people arising in connection with the existence of goods and concerning their use. From the point of view of society, property rights act as the rules of the game that streamline relations between individual agents. From the point of view of an individual, property rights act as "bundles of powers" to make decisions about a particular resource.

In order to realize his various goals, the individual exercises control over a bundle of property rights belonging exclusively to him: the right of ownership, i.e. exclusive physical control over the thing; the right to use, i.e. personal use of the thing; the right to manage, i.e. deciding how and by whom a thing can be used; the right to income; the right to the capital value of a thing, which implies the right to alienate, consume, change or destroy a thing; the right to security, i.e. immunity from expropriation; the right to transfer things by inheritance or by will; the right to perpetuity; prohibition of harmful use, i.e. obligation to refrain from using the thing in a way that is harmful to others; the right to liability in the form of recovery, i.e. the possibility of taking things in payment of a debt.

The object of study transaction cost theory serves as a multilateral treaty as a form of organization. The task of the theory of transaction costs is to explain the problems of the effectiveness of certain economic operations within a certain institutional framework, that is, the ability of various organizational forms in effective planning and implementation of economic goals. This theory is based on the assumption that any action in the economic context is primarily associated with costs. Transaction costs ensure the transfer of property rights from one hand to another and the protection of these rights.

The theory of property rights and the theory of transaction costs formed the basis contract theory . Any act of exchange is considered in the new institutional economic theory as an exchange of bundles of property rights. The framework for the transfer of ownership is determined by the contract. The theory of contracts considers the exchange of property rights through a channel, which is a contract that fixes exactly what powers and under what conditions are to be transferred.

As part of theories of economic organizations the firm is viewed through the prism of the transactional approach, as a network of contracts, a system for processing and transmitting information, a structure for providing economic power and control over property, etc.

Economics of law proceeds from the fact that agents behave as rational maximizers when making not only market, but also non-market decisions (such as breaking or not breaking the law, initiating or not initiating a lawsuit). Legal system, like the market, is seen as a mechanism that regulates the distribution of scarce resources. In the economics of law, it is analyzed in detail how economic entities react to various legal establishments and how the legal norms themselves change under the influence of economic factors.

Public Choice Theory analyzes the political mechanism for making macroeconomic decisions, in other words, the object of analysis here is "political markets".

New Economic History tries to interpret the historical process in terms of the evolution of institutions, the theory of property rights and transaction costs.

The attitude of the NIE towards state intervention in the economy is skeptical due to the fact that transaction costs in the public sector are very high.

Evolutionary institutionalism developed in the 1970s and 1990s. Main representatives: D. Hamilton(USA, "Evolutionary Economic Theory" - 1970), J. Schumpeter(Austria, "Theory of Economic Development" - 1982), R. Nelson(USA, "Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change" - 1982).

Methodological features of evolutionary institutionalism:

Emphasis on the study of economic changes;

· negation of the postulate of neoclassical theory - equilibrium, as an atypical and very short-term state;

making biological analogies;

Accounting for the role of historical time. Dynamic phenomena are emphasized, which are a consequence of the irreversibility of historical time and lead to results that are not optimal for the economy. Such phenomena are a manifestation of dependence on the past path of development;

· routine plays a role in the behavior of firms - standardized rules for making decisions and carrying out activities that are applied for a certain period without adjustment.

Evolutionary institutionalism is characterized by a favorable attitude towards government intervention in the economy, since economic changes do not have an inherent tendency to provide optimal results.

New French Institutional Economics (NFIET) as the youngest direction of institutional analysis was formed in France in the mid-1980s. In the most expanded form, the NFIET program is given in the works of representatives of the economics of agreements - L. Thevenot, O. Favreau, A. Orleans, R. Boyer.

The specificity of the NFIET methodology lies in the fact that the market economy is studied not as a single object, but as a subsystem of society. Society is considered from the point of view of analyzing various "institutional subsystems" ("worlds"), each of which is characterized by special ways of coordinating between people - "agreements" and special requirements for people's actions - "norms of behavior". A norm is a prescription for a certain behavior, mandatory for implementation and aimed at maintaining order in the system of interactions. Agreements are the most general framework for interaction between individuals.

In the approach of representatives of the NFIET, the following institutional subsystems are distinguished: market, industrial, traditional, civil, public opinion, creative activity, environmental.

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