Research frontiers of new institutional economics

Abstract

This contribution is about the ‘progressive research program’, as Imre Lakatos would have called it, initiated by New Institutional Economics. After a short reminder of the ‘golden triangle’ of concepts and tools introduced by the founders (Coase, North, Ostrom, Williamson) and their followers, the paper turns to a quick overview of the attainments of this paradigm along its dominant branches: organization theory and institutional analysis. The emphasis is on the new paths opening up, with a focus on two key issues: hybrid arrangements, which may well be the prevailing organization of transactions in developed market economies; and intermediate, ‘meso-institutions’, which likely provide the missing link between the general rules framing socioeconomic activities and the actors operating within these rules. The underlying argument is that whatever happens to the label ‘NIE’, this research program will remain with us for a long time ahead.