Economic Behavior and Institutions

Name: Economic Behavior and Institutions
ISBN: 9787100040792

Thráinn EggertssonThe Commercial Press2004

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Chapters: 25
Series: Institutional Economics Translation Series
ISBN: 9787100040792

Summary

This book is the magnum opus of the Icelandic scholar Thráinn Eggertsson. The earliest Chinese translation was published by the Commercial Press in 1996 under the title New Institutional Economics, and the original title was restored as Economic Behavior and Institutions when the book was reissued in 2004. The author argues that economics has lagged behind other social sciences in applying institutional analysis because it lacks a usable theoretical framework. He therefore offers a systematic survey of ongoing institutional research across the branches of economics and attempts to establish a unified analytical framework for the new institutional economics. Building on the neoclassical economic model, the book proceeds through three levels of analysis: the first treats property-right structures and forms of organization as exogenous variables and discusses transaction costs, the cost of measuring commodities, and the efficiency of resource allocation; the second endogenizes the activity of organizing exchange and examines attenuated and partitioned property rights, agency theory, contracting, and the cost comparison and “competition filter” among alternative organizational forms; the third endogenizes social and political rules and the structure of political institutions, drawing on a positive theory of government, information costs and political procedures, the logic of collective action and the free-rider problem to explain legislation and ideology. The author also considers such topics as public property, corporate ownership, the emergence of property rights in stateless societies, and economic interpretations of state functions, bringing together property-rights economics, the theory of the firm, the theory of work organization, cliometrics, and law and economics.

Editor's review

新制度经济学在中国读书界一直有点“理论多、框架少”的尴尬：科斯、诺思、德姆塞茨的论文人人都引，却少有人把产权、契约、企业理论、计量历史学和法经济学拧成一个整体。埃格特森这本小书的价值正在此处——它不是文献综述，而是一次有原创性的综合。作者用“三个分析层次”把看似分散的议题串成阶梯：先假定产权与组织形式给定，看交易成本如何改变资源配置；再把组织交换内生化，比较各类替代性组织的成本；最后把政治规则和意识形态也纳入模型。这样读者能清楚看到，新古典模型不是被抛弃，而是被一层层放宽假设。书中“商品的质量维度与度量成本”“竞争过滤器”等提法，对理解平台经济、认证体系甚至外卖评分都不算过时。商务版译文平实，注释保留较完整，354页的篇幅对一本理论书来说相当克制。它更像一把钥匙而非一部百科全书：读完它，再回头读科斯与诺思，会顺畅许多。

Who it's for

A good fit for

经济学、管理学专业的高年级本科生与研究生，需要一份新制度经济学的框架式导论
研究产权、契约、企业边界与组织成本的学者与政策研究人员
读过科斯、诺思原著却觉得零散，希望把理论线索串起来的读者
对制度如何影响经济绩效感兴趣、具备基础微观经济学训练的从业者

Not a good fit for

完全没有经济学基础、希望读通俗财经读物的入门读者
只想找中国改革案例与政策解读，期待本土经验分析的读者
偏好数学建模推导，希望获得完整数理模型的读者

Reading tips

先读“前言”和第一章，把握三个分析层次的总纲，再回头逐章展开，避免陷入文献细节
手边备一本微观经济学教材，遇到效用、均衡、代理成本等概念时及时回查
每读完一章，用身边一个真实事例（如共享单车押金、平台评分）试着套用书中框架
配合科斯《社会成本问题》与诺思《制度、制度变迁与经济绩效》对照阅读，效果更佳

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

Preface to the Chinese Edition
Preface
Part One: Theoretical Introduction
Chapter One: The Generalization of Neoclassical Economics: New Tools and Concepts
1.1 Neoclassical Economics and the Theory of Production and Exchange
1.2 Neoclassical Economics and the Rational Choice Model
1.3 Wealth Maximization and Positive Economics: In Search of Criteria
1.4 Transaction Costs and Resource Allocation
1.5 Transaction Costs and Efficiency
1.6 The Quality Dimension of Commodities and Measurement Costs
1.7 Transaction Costs and Equilibrium Outcomes
Chapter Two: Property Rights, Agency, and Economic Organization
2.1 Property Rights and Their Dimensions
2.2 Attenuation and Partitioning of Property Rights
2.3 Agency Theory and Its Applications
2.4 Property Rights and Contracting
2.5 Competition and the Costs of Alternative Economic Organizations
2.6 The Competition Filter
Chapter Three: Explaining Legislation
3.1 A Positive Theory of Government
3.2 Information Costs and Political Procedures
3.3 The Logic of Collective Action and the Free-Rider Problem
3.4 The Concept of Equilibrium Political Institutions
3.5 Ideology and the Rational Choice Model
3.6 Can We Explain Legislation?

FAQ

这本书和《新制度经济学》是同一本书吗？

是。本书1996年由商务印书馆首译出版时名为《新制度经济学》，2004年10月再版时改回英文原书对应的名称《经济行为与制度》，内容主体一致，读者不必重复购买。

读这本书需要什么数学基础？

要求不高。全书以文字论述和几何图形为主，几乎没有复杂推导，具备初级微观经济学（供求、边际、均衡）常识即可读懂大部分内容。

这本书适合当教材吗？

适合作为新制度经济学的专题参考书或研究生讨论课读本。它结构清晰、覆盖面广，但并非逐知识点编排的标准化教材，缺少习题与案例库。

书里会讲中国的制度问题吗？

本书是理论性著作，以一般化的制度分析为主，不以中国经验为对象。读者需要自行把产权、交易成本等框架迁移到本土案例上。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Thráinn Eggertsson Author

Thráinn Eggertsson is a scholar-author known for his work in institutional economics; public information about his nationality and life remains limited. The library currently holds one work by him, Economic Behavior and Institutions, which is commonly classified under economics, personal finance, and finance. Judging from the title and its usual categorization, his writing examines how economic behavior is shaped by the institutional environment, focusing on the influence of property rights, rules, and organizational arrangements on economic decisions. It belongs to accessible academic writing that brings institutional analysis into everyday economic understanding. Such works tend to emphasize conceptual frameworks and real-world cases rather than elaborate models, making them suitable for readers who wish to reconsider economic phenomena from an institutional perspective. Because public information is limited, details of his life, academic career, and broader influence cannot be described in depth; readers may gain a sense of his analytical perspective and style from the book itself.