Handbook on Institutions and Complexity

Eric Alston

ISBN 10: 1035309718 / ISBN 13: 9781035309719

Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, GB, 2025

About this Item

This innovative Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the significance of complexity theory for understanding institutions. Eminent scholars analyse the key tools and concepts of the field, including emergence, networks, ergodicity, and modularity, exploring their contributions to institutional formulation and evolution.Bridging the gap between complexity theory and mainstream economics, this pioneering Handbook reveals novel approaches to understanding institutional processes from the micro to the macro level. Chapters balance theoretical discussions with practical analysis, showcasing the relevance of complexity to specific areas such as cities, forests, religion, and historical development. Ultimately, the Handbook argues that viewing economies and societies as co-evolving, non-linear, path-dependent, and non-equilibrium systems can provide invaluable insights into the study of institutional emergence and impact.Academics and students in economics, politics, public policy and other social sciences will benefit from the in-depth analyses in this prescient Handbook. It is also a valuable resource for policy-makers interested in the study of complex systems and their ever-growing applications.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781035309719

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Handbook on Institutions and Complexity
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1035309718
• ISBN 13: 9781035309719
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This innovative Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the significance of complexity theory for understanding institutions. Eminent scholars analyse the key tools and concepts of the field, including emergence, networks, ergodicity, and modularity, exploring their contributions to institutional formulation and evolution.

Bridging the gap between complexity theory and mainstream economics, this pioneering Handbook reveals novel approaches to understanding institutional processes from the micro to the macro level. Chapters balance theoretical discussions with practical analysis, showcasing the relevance of complexity to specific areas such as cities, forests, religion, and historical development. Ultimately, the Handbook argues that viewing economies and societies as co-evolving, non-linear, path-dependent, and non-equilibrium systems can provide invaluable insights into the study of institutional emergence and impact.

Academics and students in economics, politics, public policy and other social sciences will benefit from the in-depth analyses in this prescient Handbook. It is also a valuable resource for policy-makers interested in the study of complex systems and their ever-growing applications.

About the Author

Edited by Eric Alston, Scholar in Residence, Finance Division, University of Colorado Boulder, Lee J. Alston, Professor of Economics and Affiliate Professor of Law, Emeritus, Indiana University, and Research Associate, NBER, USA and Bernardo Mueller, Department of Economics, University of Brasília, Brazil