Three families of social capital concepts are discussed:(fa1) trust,(fa2) ease of cooperation,
and (fa3) network. In the language of game theory, social capital is the excess propensity to …

This paper surveys alternative approaches to the emergence and evolution of institutions.
The challenge is to develop frameworks capable of capturing both stability and change. We …

Why has China grown so fast for so long despite vast corruption? In China's Gilded Age,
Yuen Yuen Ang maintains that all corruption is harmful, but not all types of corruption hurt …

Why do some autocracies remain stable while others collapse? This article presents a
theoretical framework that seeks to explain the longevity of autocracies by referring to three …

A penetrating look into the extreme plutocracy Vladimir Putin has created and its
implications for Russia's future This insightful study explores how the economic system …

Inequality and taxation are fundamental problems of modern times. How and when can
democracies tax economic elites? This book develops a theoretical framework that refines …

Recent research has documented large differences among countries in ownership
concentration in publicly traded firms, in the breadth and depth of capital markets, in …

China is an important counterexample to the findings in the law, institutions, finance, and
growth literature: Neither its legal nor financial system is well developed, yet it has one of the …

The standard approach to policy making and advice in economics implicitly or explicitly
ignores politics and political economy and maintains that if possible, any market failure …

In recent years, the field of comparative economics refocused on the comparison of capitalist
economies. The theme of the new research is that institutions exert a profound influence on …