Reputation, Commitment, and Organizational Forms: A Comparative Institutional Analysis

Author: Wang Yongqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: This book is part of the "Frontier Issues in Economics Research Series" within the "Youthful Economists' Collection" of Fudan University. The book consists of six chapters and primarily draws on four theoretical analytical methods: transaction cost economics, law and finance, soft budget constraint theory, and historical comparative institutional analysis. It proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework to explore the determinants of socio-economic institutions and organizational forms in a society. The book provides general economic explanations for the familiar socio-economic phenomena we observe, such as explicit rules and implicit rules, as well as the impact of decentralization and division of labor on socio-economic institutions and organizational forms. It highlights the academic pursuit of using economics to explain the world and holds significant theoretical value in demonstrating how mainstream economic methods can be applied to analyze real-world issues. This book specifically proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework to explain the aforementioned phenomena and address the corresponding questions. Specifically:
Chapter 1, "Introduction," aims to explain the motivations behind writing this book, the methods and assumptions adopted, and the logical structure of the book.
Chapter 2, "Literature Review," aims to review the literature related to the four theories discussed in this book—transaction cost economics, law and finance, soft budget constraint theory, and historical comparative institutional analysis—and focus on discussing the connections and distinctions between this book and these works, thereby better highlighting the book's contributions and innovations.
Chapter 3, "Reputation Rent, Social Trust, and Organizational Forms," examines the impact of reputation and social trust on socio-economic institutions and organizational forms.
Chapter 4, "Decentralization, Commitment, and Organizational Forms," explores the influence of a society's degree of decentralization on socio-economic institutions and organizational forms.
Chapter 5, "Division of Labor, Commitment, and Organizational Forms," investigates the effects of the division of labor on socio-economic institutions and organizational forms.
Chapter 6, "Conclusion," summarizes the book and further discusses certain conclusions, while also proposing several directions for future in-depth research.