Growth and Welfare in the American Past: A New Economic History. Douglass North

1967 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-313
Author(s):  
Ralph Andreano
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Douglass North

scholarly journals The Demand and Supply of Protection:A Reinterpretation of the Emergence of a Weberian/Olsonian State through the Lens of Modern China

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben T. Yu ◽  
Quo-quan Chen ◽  
Lawrence W.C. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Mancur Olson ◽  
Douglass North

AbstractThe study of institutions and economic history was much influenced by Ronald Coase and Douglass North, in particular with Douglas North’s notion of government as an endogenous outcome of institution competition. Although Max Weber articulated a concept of government as a monopoly of violence in 1919, much subsequent modeling work on governments was built around the banditry notion of governments of Mancur Olson (1993, “Democracy, Dictatorship and Development.”

scholarly journals Cliometrics: Past, Present, and Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Diebolt ◽  
Michael Haupert
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Nobel Prize ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Douglass North

Cliometrics is the application of economic theory and quantitative methods to the study of economic history. The methodology rose to favor in economics departments in the 1960s. It grew to dominate the discipline over the next two decades, culminating in the awarding of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics to two of its pioneers, Robert Fogel and Douglass North. Cliometrics has always had its share of critics, and some have blamed it for the diminished role that economic history has had in economics programs in the 21st century.

The New Economic History of Latin America: Evolution and Recent Contributions

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Coatsworth ◽  
William R. Summerhill
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Applied Economics ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Douglass North

This article on economic history explores a scholarly corpus whose robust empiricism stands out from the general antipositivist trends in the historical field and thus contributes a healthy element of disciplinary pluralism. The field originally rested on two pillars, neoclassical economic theory and cliometrics—that is, the use of quantitative methods, models from applied economics, and counterfactuals to test falsifiable hypotheses. But, inspired by the work of scholars such as the Nobel laureate Douglass North, recent practitioners have added a “new institutionalism” that aims to incorporate an increased sensibility towards cultural norms.

The Contradictions of Modern Societies

1984 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Elster
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Internal Contradiction ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Mancur Olson ◽  
Douglass North

MANCUR OLSON HAS WRITTEN A BOOK IN THE GRAND tradition, trying to explain how societies are undermined by their own success. In his own words, there is an ‘internal contradiction’ (p. 145) in the development of stable societies. I want to discuss Olson's views in the light of other works in the same tradition, works that also set out to explain how success tends to be self-defeating in various ways. Among the classics of social theory, I have singled out the writings of Marx, Veblen and Schumpeter. A contemporary work that suggests itself for the same kind of comparison is the recent book by Douglass North, Structure and Change in Economic History. Before I go on to compare Olson'stheory with these competing explanations, I must briefly set out the main elements of the theory itself. This must of necessity be a very simplified statement, but the later discussion will allow me to add some nuances.

scholarly journals Theory Without Measurement or Some Finishing Touches on The Creative Portrait of Douglass North

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 071-090
Author(s):  
Alexander Maltsev ◽  
◽  
Natalia Rozinskaya ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Douglass North

The article examines some of the key features of the scientific work of Douglass North. It is argued that the popular image of North as an adherent of this or that school of economic thought is not highly relevant. The authors believe that one of the key features of North's research style is his "theory-centricity". The article demonstrates that the most important milestones in North's career (fling with Marxism in his youth, participation in the Сliometrics revolution, the transition from neoclassical economist to one of the founders of neo-institutionalism, a turn towards cognitive science), despite the seeming lack of continuity served as kind of steps of the ladder along which North went to the creation of a comprehensive theory of social development. Based on the results of qualitative content analysis of North's works of the 1950s and 60s, the authors show that even in the years of his affinity for quantitative economic history, the economist always put the ability to theorize above the skills of quantitative analysis. This feature, combined with the recent empirical turn in economics, which raised the prestige of empirical work to unprecedented heights, made it difficult for modern mainstream economists to perceive the ideas of the "late" North. The authors' analysis of the citation structure of North's last major book, "Violence and Social Orders. Conceptual framework for the interpretation of the written history of mankind" confirms this trend. This book generates greater interest among heterodox economists, historians, and political scientists than among representatives of mainstream economics. In the article's conclusion, the authors speculate about the prospects of the Northian theory-driven style of doing economic research in the face of the progressive "empirization" of modern economics.

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