Ernesto Screpanti is Professor of Political Economy and Professor of the History of Political Economy at the University of Siena. He has published extensively on the economics of labour, institutional economics, the history and methodology of economics, his previous publications include An Outline of the History of Economic Thought, with S. Zamagni,

'I have strongly appreciated this book, as it consitutes a fruitful merging of Marxian theory with recent advances in institutional and evolutionary economics. The book is well researched and, among other things, provides useful summaries and original combinations of several strands of literature, mainly but not exclusively radical and institutional...it is very rewarding reading for everybody wanting to understand what capitalism really is.' - Angelo Reati, il cannocchiale

• Introduction 1. The Employment Contract, Transaction Institutions and Capitalism: i The Employment Contract; ii Transaction Institutions and Social Reproduction 2. Individuals, Culture and Behavioural Institutions: i Premises; ii Bounded Rationality and Intentional Behaviour; iii The Multiple Self and False Conditions; iv The Ideological Conditions of Social Reproduction; v Conclusions 3. The State and Normative Institutions i Where Does the State Come From? ii The State Action 4. Forms of Co-operation and Power: i Co-operation; ii Power 5. Production Governance Structures: i The Capitalist Firm; ii The Market; iii The Governance of Knowledge Production 6. Different Forms of Capitalism: i Institutional Systems; ii Forms of Capitalism Conclusions: Toward the Autonomy of Capital