Lawlessness and Economics
：Alternative Modes of Governance
( The Gorman Lectures in Economics )
Publication subTitle ：Alternative Modes of Governance
Publication series ：The Gorman Lectures in Economics
Author： Dixit Avinash K.;;;
Publisher： Princeton University Press
Publication year： 2011
E-ISBN: 9781400841370
P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780691114866
Subject： F110 Policy, planning
Keyword： 世界政治,经济学,经济计划与管理
Language： ENG
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Description
How can property rights be protected and contracts be enforced in countries where the rule of law is ineffective or absent? How can firms from advanced market economies do business in such circumstances? In Lawlessness and Economics, Avinash Dixit examines the theory of private institutions that transcend or supplement weak economic governance from the state.
In much of the world and through much of history, private mechanisms--such as long-term relationships, arbitration, social networks to disseminate information and norms to impose sanctions, and for-profit enforcement services--have grown up in place of formal, state-governed institutions. Even in countries with strong legal systems, many of these mechanisms continue under the shadow of the law. Numerous case studies and empirical investigations have demonstrated the variety, importance, and merits, and drawbacks of such institutions.
This book builds on these studies and constructs a toolkit of theoretical models to analyze them. The models shed new conceptual light on the different modes of governance, and deepen our understanding of the interaction of the alternative institutions with each other and with the government's law. For example, one model explains the limit on the size of social networks and illuminates problems in the transition to more formal legal systems as economies grow beyond this limit. Other models explain why for-profit enforcement is inefficient. The mod
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