The Elgar Companion to Institutional and Evolutionary Economics

This authoritative and comprehensive reference work introduces the reader to the major concepts and leading contributors in the field of institutional and evolutionary economics. The Companion's coverage includes contributions by leading international authors working in the traditions of Thorstein Veblen, Joseph Schumpeter and the new institutionalist economics. Featuring accessible, informative and provocative entries on all the significant areas, this book breaks new ground by bringing together widely dispersed but theoretically congruent ideas for the first time. Several entries assess evolutionary and institutional aspects in the work of otherwise orthodox political economists, such as Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall and Friedrich A. von Hayek. Although some attention has been given to the critique of mainstream neoclassical economics, the principal focus has been on the affirmative presentation of institutional and evolutionary economics as alternatives to both the neoclassical and Marxian schools. An important feature of the work is the inclusion of a large number of entries addressing the foundations of inquiry into political economy. As the best single reference source on institutional and evolutionary economics now available, this two volume set will be welcomed by students and teachers in economics, scholars in related social sciences and government policymakers.