Institutional Analysis in the Socialist Calculation Debate
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper asserts that economists of the mid twentieth century developed two methods of analyzing institutions. Austrian and Coasean economists developed complementary approaches to institutional analysis. Coase developed a research program of Comparative Institutional Analysis, whereby economists compare alternative institutions according to their most similar features. Ludwig von Mises and FA Hayek developed a research program of Contrasting Institutional Analysis, whereby economists contrast alternative institutions according to their most fundamental differences. Oscar Lange utilized the comparative approach in the Socialist Calculation debate with Mises and Hayek. Lange’s success in promoting comparative economics relegated the contrasting approach to obscurity.
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