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ECONOMICS 292
"COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS"

Autumn 2003

M.AOKI
Office hour: Tuesday 14:00-16:00
or by appointment by e-mail (aoki@stanford.edu)


In the following, "TCIA-chapter x" refers to chapter x of the textbook, M. Aoki, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis, MIT Press, 2001.

Articles indicated by [JS] are available through JSTOR on the web, and those by [EJ] are through Jackson Library E-journals.


1. INTRODUCTION: WHAT ARE INSTITUTIONS? HOW SHOULD THEY BE APPROACHED?
Topics:
   three views of institutions; a game-theoretic definition of institutions; game form; five basic types of domains of game; possibility of a trans-disciplinary approach to institutions
Reading:
- TCIA-chapter 1.
- D. North (1990). Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press.
- L. Hurwicz (1993), "Toward a Framework for Analyzing Institution and Institutional Change," in S. Bowles, H. Gintis and B. Gustafsson (eds.), Markets and Democracy, Cambridge University Press, pp.51-67.
- A. Greif (1997), "Microtheory and Recent Developments in the Study of Economic Institutions through Economic History," in D. Kreps and K. F. Wallis (eds.), Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Theory and Applications, Seventh World Congress, Vol. II, Cambridge University Press, pp. 79-113. [LINK]
- [W. R. Scott (1995), Institutions and Organizations, Sage Publications.]
- [Barkow, J. H., L.Cosmides and J.Tooby (1992). The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, Oxford University Press.]
- [Powell, W. W., and P. A. DiMaggio (eds), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, University of Chicago Press, 1991.]
 
PART I. PROPTO-INSTITUTIONS AND BASIC CONCEPTS
 
2. CUSTOMARY PROPERTY RIGHTS AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Topics:
   customary property rights; two kinds of orders and law; private protection of property rights
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 2.1
- H. P. Young (1993), "An Evolutionary Theory of Bargaining," Journal of Economic Theory, 59, pp. 145-68. [EJ]
-- (1998), Individual Strategy and Social Structure: An Evolutionary Theory of Institutions, Princeton University Press.
- H. Demsetz (1967), "Toward a Theory of Property Rights," American Economic Review, 57, pp.347-59. [JS]
- F. A. Hayek (1973), Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1, Rules and Order. University of Chicago Press
- [R. C. Ellickson (1991), Order Without Law: How Neighbors Settle Disputes, Harvard University Press.]
- Ikeda, N. (2003). "The Spectrum as Commons:Digital Wireless Technologies and Radio Administration."[LINK]
- [Gambetta, D. (1993), The Sicilian Mafia, Harvard University Press.]
- Olson, M. (1993), "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development", American Political Science Review, pp.567-576. [JS]
 
3. COMMUNITY NORMS: INDIVIDUAL VS. GROUP SELECTION
Topics:
   free-riding in commons; linked games; social embeddedness; geography vs political factor in equilibrium selection;group vs.individual selection
Reading
- TCIA-Chapter 2.2
- [D. B. Klein (1990), "The Voluntary Provision of Public Goods? The Turnpike Companies of Early America," Economic Inquiry, 8, pp.788-812.]
- [E. Ostrom (1990), Governing the Commons, The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge University Press.]
- M. Granovettor (1985), "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness," American Journal of Sociology, 91, pp.480-510. [JS]
-- (1992), "Economic Institutions as Social Constructions: A Framework for Analysis," Acta Sociologica, 35: pp.3-11.
- B. D. Bernheim and M. Whinston (1990), 'Multimarket Contact and Collusive Behavior,' Rand Journal of Economics 21: pp.1-26. [JS]
- M.Aoki and Y. Hayami (eds.)(2001), Communities and Markets: in Economic Development, Oxford University Press.]
- Field, A. (2003) "Group Selection and Economic Theory," mimeo.
-- (2001), Altruistically Inclined? Evolutionary Theory, the Behavioral Sciences, and the Origins of Reciprocity, University of Michigan Press.
- Bergstrom, T. C. (2002), "Evolution of Social Behavior: Individual and Group Selection," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16 (Spring): pp.67-88.
- D. Acemoglu, S.Johnson and J. A. Robinson (2002). "Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution," Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp.1231-129. [EJ]
 
4. MODES OF PRIVATE-ORDERED GOVERNANCE OF EXCHANGES
Topics:
   social norms, gift exchange; club norms, multiple equilibria in market reputations, cultural beliefs; bilateral commitment to relational contracting; private-ordered third-party enforcement (law merchant); moral sentiments; digital enforcements; complementarity and substitutability among various modes of governance.
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 3.
- M. Kandori (1992). "Social Norms and Community Enforcement," Review of Economic Studies, 59, pp.63-80. [JS]
- L. Carmichael and W. B. MacLeod (1997), "Gift Exchange and the Evolution of Cooperation," International Economic Review, pp.485-509. [JS]
- A. Greif (1994). "Cultural Beliefs and the Organization of Society: A Historical and Theoretical Reflection on Collectivist and Individualist Societies," Journal of Political Economy, 102, pp.912-50. [JS]
- W. B. MacLeod and J. M. Malcomson (1989), "Implicit Contracts, Incentive Compatibility, and Involuntary Unemployment," Econometrica, 57 (March 1989), pp.447-480. [JS]
- P. Milgrom, D. North and B.Weingast (1990). " The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs," Economics and Politics, 2, pp.1-23.
- J. P. Platteau (1994). "Behind the Market Stage Where Real Society Exist. Part 1: The Role of Public and Private Order Institutions". Journal of Development Studies, 30, pp.533-73; "Part II: The Role of Moral Norms," ibid., pp.753-817.
- K. J. Arrow (1967), 'The Place of Moral Obligation in Preference Systems," reprinted in Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow, Vol. 1, Harvard University Press.
- Dixit, A. (2003), "On Modes of Economic Governance," Econometrica, 71: 449-481. -- (2004) , Lawlessness and Economics, Princeton University Press. Chapter 1 [LINK]
- [Lessig, L. (1999), Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Basic Books.]
 
5. MODES OF ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND GOVERNANCE
Topics:
   organizational architecture as an information system; information differentiation, assimilation, and encapsulation; property rights and other modes of organizational governance; modularity and option values; gains from organizational diversity.
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapters 4, 5, 10-12
- J. Cremer (1990), "Common Knowledge and the Co-ordination of Economic Activities," in M. Aoki, B. Gustafsson, and O. E. Williamson (eds.), The Firm as a Nexus of Treaties, Sage Publications, pp.53-76.
- O. Hart and J. Moore (1990), 'Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm,' Journal of Political Economy 98: 1119-1158. [JS]
O. Hart (1995), Firms, Contracts and Financial Structure, Oxford University Press.
- Langlois, R.N. and P. L. Robertson (1992), "Networks and Innovation in a Modular System: Lessons from the Microcomputer and Stereo Component Industries, Research Policy, 21, pp.297-313.
- Baldwin, C. Y. and K. B. Clark (1997), "Managing in an Age of Modularity," Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct: 84-97. -- (2000), Design Rules: The Power of Modularity, Vol. 1, MIT Press.
- Aoki, M. and H. Takizawa (2002), "Information, Incentives and Option Value: The Silicon Valley Model," Journal of Comparative Economics, 30, pp.759-786. [LINK]
- Tirole, J. (2001), "Corporate Governance," Econometrica 69:pp.1-35 forthcoming.
- R. La Porta, R., F Lopez-de-Silanes, A.Shleifer and R. Vishny (1998), "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy 106: pp.1113-1155. [JS]
- Rajan, R. G., and L. Zingales (2000), "The Governance of the New Enterprises," in X.Vives (ed.), Corporate Governance: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, pp.201-232.
- M. Aoki (1998), "Organizational Conventions and the Gains from Diversity: an Evolutionary Game Approach", Industrial and Corporate Change, 7, pp.399-432.
 
6. MODES OF STATES AS STABLE EQUILIBRIA
Topics:
   the state as an equilibrium of a polity game with the government as a player; liberal, collusive, predatory states and their variants; complementarity between the state and market/organizational governance; political accountability; comparative states and public finance.
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 6.
- B. Weingast (1997), "The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of Law," American Political Science Review, 91, 245-63. [JS]
-- (1995), "The Economic Role of Political Institutions: Market-preserving Federalism and Economic Development," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organizations, 11, pp.1-31.
- Acemoglu, D. and J. A. Robinson (2000), "Why Did West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1167-1199. [EJ]
- Persson, T. , G. Roland and G. Tabellini (2000), "Comparative Politics and Public Finance," Journal of Political Economy, 108, pp.1121-1161. [JS]
-- (1997) "Separation of Powers and Political Accountability," Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp.1163-1202. [JS]
- Maskin, E. and J. Tirole (2001) "The Politician and the Judge: Accountability in Government", mimeo.
 
PART II. GAME-THEORETIC FRAMEWORK FOR INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
 
7. A GAME THEORETIC CONCEPT OF INSTITUTIONS
Topics:
   institutions as a summary representation of equilibrium or as a system of shared beliefs regarding how the game is being played; summary statistics of equilibrium; complementarity between classical and evolutionary gamer approach
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 6.
- A. Greif (1998), "Historical and Comparative Institutional Analysis: Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Methodology," Part I of Genoa and the Maghribi Traders: Historical and Comparative Institutional Analysis, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
 
8. SYNCHRONIC LINKAGES OF INSTITUTIONS
Topics:
   embeddedness, bundling, institutional complementarities; super-modular games
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 7, 11
- P. Milgrom, and J. Roberts (1990), "Rationalizability, Learning, and Equilibrium in Games with Strategic Complementarityies," Econometrica, 58, 1255-77. [JS]
 
9. SUBJECTIVE GAME MODELS AND THE MECHANISM OF INSTITUTIONAL EVOLUTION
Topics:
   mental models and subjective game models, inductive game; punctuated equilibrium; dynamic institutional complementarity, overlapping embeddedness, Schumpeterian dis-bundling and re-bundling; roles of policy and statutory law in institutional change
Reading:
- TCIA-Chapter 8.
- A. T. Denzau, and D. North (1994). "Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions," Kyklos, pp.3-3.1

- [J. Holland et al (1989), Induction: Processes of Inference, Learning, and Discovery, MIT Press.]
- M. Kaneko and A. Matsui (1999), "Inductive Game Theory: Discrimination and Prejudices," Journal of Public Economic Theory, 1, pp.1-37.
- P. Milgrom, Y. Qian and J. Roberts (1991), "Complementarities, Momentum, and the Evolution of Modern Manufacturing," American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 81(2), pp.84-88. [JS]
- Kawagoe, Y. and H. Takizawa (2003), "Instability of Babbling Equilibrium in Cheap Talk Game: Some Experimental Results," mimeo.

Course Requirement
Research Paper

(1) The approval of topic (by November 15)
(2) The submission of the final draft (by February 15)

A theme should be chosen from one of the above topics.


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