“Institutions do matter” vs. “only (formal) institutions matter”

Abstract

This article continues the discussion about the results and prospects of applying the institutional approach to the study of economic development, which was initiated by R. Kapeliushnikov (Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2019, No. 7—8). The focus is on the balance of interests and ideas in the light of economic growth, the question of the existence and protection of property rights in various social orders, taking into account the role of the state, the characteristics of institutions in the light of the problem of efficient resource usage, the refraction of the theory of social orders through the prism of objects left outside of the study by North, Wallis and Weingast, on the one hand, and Acemoglu and Robinson, on the other hand. An assessment of the adequacy of the conclusions regarding the pan-institutional nature of the North et al.’s approach is presented, as well as directions for the development of research in the context of a new institutional economic theory.