Institutional economics focuses directly on the key institutions of economic life - such as the firm, the state, the market and the family. Issues such as the role of culture, the prevalence of custom and the function of routines become paramount. Economists today are often criticised for their apparent remoteness from real world issues and institutions. In recognition of this deficiency, many leading economists are turning to 'institutional economics' as an alternative.
Institutional economics comes in 'new' and 'old' versions. The 'old' institutional economics of Thorstein Veblen, John Commons and Wesley Mitchell was dominant in University Economics departments in the United States between the First and the Second World War. Its followers in Europe included Gunnar Myrdal, Karl Polanyi and K. William Kapp.
More recently, there has been the spectacular rise of the 'new' institutional economics, led by famous economists such as Ronald Coase, Douglass North and Oliver Williamson. This is having a major impact on both economic theory and economic policy, throughout the world.
All institutional economists see the need to break from static modes of economic analysis. Accordingly, there is a strong and indissoluble link between institutional economics and the new 'evolutionary' economics of Richard Nelson, Sidney Winter, Giovanni Dosi and others.
The MA in Institutional Economics at the University of Hertfordshire will cover all three of these exciting and connected trends in economic thinking. It will be shown how these ideas are relevant for real world issues. For instance, these ideas will be applied to economic problems in
the less developed countries, and to the economic transformation in Eastern Europe. In addition, a solid grounding will be given in the basic theory and methodology that is required to understand and apply institutional economics.
The course will be taught by a team led by Professor Geoff Hodgson, who is internationally known for his work on Institutional Economics. Invited guest lecturers will include Dr Tony Lawson (University of Cambridge) and other specialists in the field. Occasional workshops and seminars will also be held with invited guest speakers.
The program may be taken full time over one year, or part time over two to five years. Most of the taught element of the course will take place in the early evenings, Monday to Fridays. Library and computing facilities are available to all students during the day, with opening hours extending into the evenings and weekends.
Enrolment for the course normally takes place in the last week of September.
STRUCTURE OF MA INSTITUIONAL ECONOMICS
The MA/Pg.Dip. Institutional Economics form part of the Business School Post graduate Masters Program. The following is an outline of the main structure. Each course lasts one semester. Semester A runs from October to February. Semester B runs from February to June.
MA INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS
Semester A Semester B
Paradigms in
Economics
Institutional and Evolutionary Economics
Economics Methodology
Economics as Realist Social Theory
Option List A
Option List A
Option List A or B
Option List A or B
Business School
Research Methods
Business School
Research Methods
Dissertation
Dissertation
P. G. Dip INSTITUIONAL ECONOMICS
Semester A Semester B
Paradigms in
Economics
Institutional and Evolutionary Economics
Economics Methodology
Economics as Realist Social Theory
Option List A
Option List A
Option List A or B
Option List A or B
CORE COURSES
(Course which must be taken to complete the MA/PgDip Institutional Economics)
Institutional and Evolutionary Economics
Paradigms in Economics
Economics Methodology
Economics of Realist Social Theory
OPTION LIST A
Managing Innovation and Change
Economics of Developing Countries
Managing in Complexity
Economic Perspectives of Women and the Labour Market
Economies in Transition
Econometrics
Economics of the Firm
Economic Theory
Economics, Law and Property (provisional)
OPTION LIST B
Specified List from Business School Masters options
The International Business Context
Organisational Behaviour
Business Environment
Chinese Business
Corporate Governance and Leadership
Group Behaviour
State, Society and Policy
Strategic Management Perspectives
Uncertainty in Systems
European Social Policy
Research Methods and Dissertation
All MA students attend a Business School Research Methods course which runs over two semesters. They also write a Dissertation of 10-15,000 words, under the guidance of a designated supervisor. The dissertation is completed by September of the academic year in which it is undertaken.
BRIEF OUTLINE OF CORE COURSES
Institutional and Evolutionary Economics
Main Lecturer: Professor Geoff Hodgson
Institutional economics is attracting increasing attention. In the 1990s both Ronald Coase and Douglass North were awarded Nobel Prizes for their contributions to institutional economics. Institutional economics is a more operational and less formalistic approach to economic issues and problems. Its ideas are now adopted by leading institutions such as the World Bank, and leading institutional economists advise several governments. This course gives a unique opportunity to study these topical ideas, at the cutting edge of modern economics. The 'old' and the 'new' institutional economics, and related ideas in evolutionary economics, will be discussed on the course. Professor Geoffrey Hodgson is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field.
Key Reading:
Eggertsson, Thráinn and North, Douglass C. (eds) (1996) Empirical Studies in Institutional
Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (1988) Economics and Institutions: A Manifesto for a Modern
Institutional Economics (Cambridge and Philadelphia: Polity Press and University of
Pennsylvania Press).
Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (1993) Economics and Evolution: Bringing Life Back Into Economics
(Cambridge, UK and Ann Arbor, MI: Polity Press and University of Michigan Press).
Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (ed.) (1993) The Economics of Institutions (Aldershot: Edward Elgar).
Economics as Realist Social Theory
Main Lecturer: Dr Tony Lawson
Realist social theory is one of the fastest growing areas in economics. It is concerned with critical analyses of the particular nature of the subject matter of social studies and the methods, categories and modes of explanation that can legitimately be endorsed in the scientific study of social objects. It addresses such issues as the relationships between human agency and social structure, between the inquirer and the objects of social inquiry, between social science and moral philosophy, between economics and the other social sciences. It is concerned with reassessing and elaborating such basic categories as abstraction, agency, intentionality, causation, competition, culture, evolution, institutions, money, need, order, power, probability, process, rationality, social structure, truth, uncertainty and many others. The overall aim is to facilitate a critical and reflexive approach to social theorising.
Key Reading:
Lawson, T. (1997), Economics and Reality, London: Routledge
Fleetwood, S. (ed.), (1999), Economics as Realist Social Theory: development and debate, London: Routledge
Paradigms of Economic Thought
Main Lecturer: Mr John Adams
The development of market economics in (at first) western Europe led to the need for a
theoretical explanation of economic problems such as the existence of inflation or
unemployment, the nature of economic phenomena such as money or rents, and an
ethical view of, for example, the charging of interest. The course will look at all these
(and many more) questions through the works of major economists of the past and
consider the modern relevance of their analyses.
Key Reading:
R B Ekelund and R F Hebert A History of Economic Theory and Method McGraw Hill
M Blaug Economic Theory in Retrospect Heinemann
C Hsieh and S Magnum A search for Synthesis in Economic Theory.
J A Schumpeter The Theory of Economic Development, capital, credit, interest and the business cycle, Transaction Books, 1983
Economics Methodology
Main Lecturer: Dr Armando Barrientos
This course aims to familiarise students with the underlying research methodology used in economics. It includes an introduction to the Methodology of Economics, including questions such as what is methodology; why economists worry about methodology; is economics an inductive or deductive science; models versus theories in economics and the role of empirical testing in economics: falsification vs. confirmation. It also includes an introduction to SPSS for windows, modelling and estimation of wage equations using data from the General Household Survey.
Selected Readings:
Blaug, M. The Methodology of Economics, 2nd ed.
R. Backhouse (ed) New Directions in Economic Methodology, Routledge 1994
George, D. and Mallery, P. SPSS PC+ Step by Step, Wadsworth, 1985
P. Ormerod The Death of Economics, 1994.