There has recently been a resurgence of interest in how institutions affect economic performance. A review of this literature reveals that the concept of an "institution" means different things to different scholars, both within economics and across the social sciences. We discuss what factors unify the different definitions of institutions, and develop a concept of institutions useful for the ...

The holy Quran has put “calling people to do good deeds” [or calling people to an act of benevolence] besides and prior to “commanding rightand forbidding wrong”, [or commanding beneficence and forbidding maleficence]. However in many interpretive and jurisprudential books, no sufficient effort has been made to elaborate the difference features between these two and their results, whose  manife...

This article discusses several of the insights generated by a theory of the formation of relationships between heterogeneously risk-averse individuals who lack access to formal insurance. An example illustrates the policy relevance of the theory, and demonstrates a relationship between the emergence of entrepreneurship in developing economies and higher income inequality. Reducing aggregate ris...

In United States v. Loughner the Ninth Circuit will soon address the constitutionality of involuntarily medicating an incompetent pretrial defendant through a Harper order that could serve to render him competent to stand trial without the added procedural protection of a judicial hearing. Judicial support for applying Harper orders to pretrial defendants is likely to be used to justify Harper ...