Overview

This book is the outgrowth of the editors' conviction that there is a need for a current and comprehensive examination of international economic issues within the framework of institutional economics. The volume covers the most important international topics that institutional economists historically have addressed. We hope that our initiative and necessarily limited choice of subjects will encourage additional applications of institutional economic theory to the international economy. For other economists, the analyses contained in the volume's dozen chapters afford an opportunity to become more aware of the theoretical work and policy recommendations of institutional economists. It may be surprising that, to an extent, evolutionary and neoclassical thinking converge and even sometimes overlap on the matter of trends and problems of the international economy. A case in point is the increased attention both schools devote to the role of technology in shaping patterns of world trade and specialization. In the past few decades, global shifts in comparative advantages, the widespread adoption of more flexible exchange- rate systems, and the remarkable shifts in institutional arrangements and policy regimes in the former Soviet Union and East Asia have compelled a reassessment of conventional static trade theories based on neoclassical assumptions. Links among trade, international investment, and the diffusion of economic growth are being more closely scrutinized and better understood. This volume is an effort to expand and stimulate this discourse on the economics of international relations, including global economic development.