Eric Brousseau - Böcker

Until the 1980s, most national economies were characterized by a clear hierarchy of norms both within the legal order and between public and private ordering. Transnational exchange was then governed by inter-governmental agreements aimed at articulating these national economic systems and associated public and private norms. Since then, this governance regime has experienced massive changes. A great number of new norm-makers and intermediaries now shape the incentives and sanctions that govern economic behaviors, resulting in complexity, unpredictability, inconsistencies, and innovations.The Handbook addresses this complexity, through expert analysis and case studies from a multidisciplinary team of economists, sociologists, political scientists, international political economy specialists and historians. The volume is organized around the logic of questioning how international systems of exchange work. In the first section, the authors explore the micro foundation of cross border exchange and transnational contracts by analyzing how private ordering, networks of agents, along with governments and officials build and regulate (imperfect) markets. The discussion then explores the challenges of compliance with those norms and regulations, highlighting how market discipline and judicial sanctions combine, and how a “rule of law” tends to develop at the international level. The next section studies the governmental initiatives to organize markets and fix market failures in a world characterized by political fragmentation and imbalance amongst governments, and also between states and non-governmental actors. Finally, there's consideration of new modes of law-making, new forms of adjudication and dispute settlement, new vectors of accountability and of guarantee of commitments that combine to initiate emerging models of governance, which co-exist with traditional ones.

Environmental challenges, and the potential solutions to address them, have a direct effect on living standards, the organization of economies, major infrastructures, and modes of urbanization. Since the publication of path-breaking contributions on the governance of environmental resources in the early 1990s, many political initiatives have been taken, numerous governance experiments have been conducted, and a large multi-disciplinary field of research has opened up. This interdisciplinary book takes stock of the knowledge that has accumulated to date, and addresses new challenges in the provision of environmental goods. It focuses on three essential dimensions with respect to governance. First, it addresses the issue of designing governance solutions through analyzing systems of rules, and levels of organization, in the governance and management of environmental issues. Second, it draws renewed attention to the negotiation processes among stakeholders playing a crucial role in reaching agreements over issues and solutions, and in choosing and implementing particular policy instruments. Finally, it shows that compliance depends on a combination of formal rules, enforced by recognized authorities, and informal obligations, such as social and individual norms. The evolution of the research frontiers on environmental governance shows that more legitimate and informed processes of collective decision, and more subtle and effective ways of managing compliance, can contribute to more effective policy. However, this book also illustrates that more democratic and effective governance should rely on more direct and pluralistic forms of involvement of citizens and stakeholders in the collective decision making processes

How are our societies being transformed by internet and digital economics? This book provides an accessible introduction to the economics of the internet and a comprehensive account of the mechanisms of the digital economy. Leading scholars examine the original economic and business models being developed as a result of the internet system, and explore their impact on our economies and societies. Key issues are analysed, including the development of open source software and on-line communities, peer-to-peer and online sharing of cultural goods, electronic markets and the rise of new information intermediaries, e-retailing and e-banking. The volume examines how internet and digital economics have transformed the organization of firms, industries, markets, commerce, modes of distribution, money, finance, and innovation processes, and provides the analytical tools to understand both these recent transformations and the likely future directions of the 'New Economy'.

A contract is an agreement under which two parties make reciprocal commitments in terms of their behavior to coordinate. As this concept has become essential to economics in the last 30 years, three main theoretical frameworks have emerged: 'incentive theory', 'incomplete-contract theory' and 'transaction-costs theory'. These frameworks have enabled scholars to renew both the microeconomics of coordination (with implications for industrial organization, labor economics, law and economics, organization design) and the macroeconomics of 'market' (decentralized) economies and of the institutional framework. These developments have resulted in new analyses of a firm's strategy and State intervention (regulation of public utilities, anti-trust, public procurement, institutional design, liberalization policies, etc.). Based on contributions by the leading scholars in the field, this 2002 book provides an overview of developments in these analytical currents, presents their various aspects, and proposes expanding horizons for theoreticians and practitioners.

How are our societies being transformed by internet and digital economics? This book provides an accessible introduction to the economics of the internet and a comprehensive account of the mechanisms of the digital economy. Leading scholars examine the original economic and business models being developed as a result of the internet system, and explore their impact on our economies and societies. Key issues are analysed, including the development of open source software and on-line communities, peer-to-peer and online sharing of cultural goods, electronic markets and the rise of new information intermediaries, e-retailing and e-banking. The volume examines how internet and digital economics have transformed the organization of firms, industries, markets, commerce, modes of distribution, money, finance, and innovation processes, and provides the analytical tools to understand both these recent transformations and the likely future directions of the 'New Economy'.

Institutions frame behaviors and exchanges in markets, business networks, communities, and organizations throughout the world. Thanks to the pioneering work of Ronald Coase, Douglas North and Olivier Williamson, institutions are now recognized as being a key factor in explaining differences in performance between industries, nations, and regions. The fast-growing field of new institutional economics analyzes the economics of institutions and organizations using methodologies, concepts, and analytical tools from a wide range of disciplines (including political science, anthropology, sociology, management, law, and economics). With contributions from an international team of researchers, New Institutional Economics provides theoreticians, practitioners, and advanced students in economics and social sciences with a guide to the many recent developments in the field. It explains the underlying methodologies, identifies issues and questions for future research, and shows how results apply to decision making in law, economic policy, management, regulation and institutional design.

A contract is an agreement under which two parties make reciprocal commitments in terms of their behavior to coordinate. As this concept has become essential to economics in the last 30 years, three main theoretical frameworks have emerged: 'incentive theory', 'incomplete-contract theory' and 'transaction-costs theory'. These frameworks have enabled scholars to renew both the microeconomics of coordination (with implications for industrial organization, labor economics, law and economics, organization design) and the macroeconomics of 'market' (decentralized) economies and of the institutional framework. These developments have resulted in new analyses of a firm's strategy and State intervention (regulation of public utilities, anti-trust, public procurement, institutional design, liberalization policies, etc.). Based on contributions by the leading scholars in the field, this 2002 book provides an overview of developments in these analytical currents, presents their various aspects, and proposes expanding horizons for theoreticians and practitioners.

Digital technologies have prompted the emergence of new modes of regulation and governance, since they allow for more decentralized processes of elaboration and implementation of norms. Moreover, the Internet has been raising a wide set of governance issues since it affects many domains, such as individual rights, public liberties, property rights, economic competition, market regulation, conflict management, security and the sovereignty of states. There is therefore a need to understand how technical, political, economic and social norms are articulated, as well as to understand who the main actors of this process of transformation are, how they interact and how these changes may influence international rulings. This book brings together an international team of scholars to explain and analyse how collective regulations evolve in the broader context of the development of post-modern societies, globalization, the reshaping of international relations and the profound transformations of nation-states.

Different types of markets exist throughout the world but how are they created? In this book, an interdisciplinary team of authors provide an evolutionary vision of how markets are designed and shaped. Drawing on a series of case studies, they show that markets are far from perfect and natural mechanisms, and propose a new view of markets as social construct, explaining how combinations of economic, political and legal constraints influence the formation and performance of markets. Historical trajectories and interdependencies among institutional dimensions make it difficult to build costless, non-biased co-ordination mechanisms, and there are limitations to public and private attempts to improve the design of markets. The authors show that incomplete and imperfect modes of governance must be improved upon and combined in order for markets to work more efficiently. This timely book will interest practitioners and academics with backgrounds in economics, law, political science and public policy.

Digital technologies have prompted the emergence of new modes of regulation and governance, since they allow for more decentralized processes of elaboration and implementation of norms. Moreover, the Internet has been raising a wide set of governance issues since it affects many domains, such as individual rights, public liberties, property rights, economic competition, market regulation, conflict management, security and the sovereignty of states. There is therefore a need to understand how technical, political, economic and social norms are articulated, as well as to understand who the main actors of this process of transformation are, how they interact and how these changes may influence international rulings. This book brings together an international team of scholars to explain and analyse how collective regulations evolve in the broader context of the development of post-modern societies, globalization, the reshaping of international relations and the profound transformations of nation-states.