Evolving Approaches To The Economics Of Public Policy

For policymakers, economics is a useful tool in the development and evaluation of public policy. And like many sciences, economics is evolving to become more interdisciplinary in its approach. Today, economic theory is often used in conjunction with insights gleaned from psychology and sociology to create a more inclusive, real-world approach to implementing public policy. In this book, five award-winning economists tackle a diverse range of topics and show how applied economics has evolved to give policymakers a more nuanced approach to policy development. The award-winning economists included in this volume are Erica Field, Nancy Folbre, Avner Grief, David M. Kreps, and Michael J. Piore, and the topics they discuss include microfinance, human capital, societal institutions, worker motivation, and workplace regulation.

This book advances novel tools for the study, analysis, and development of public policy, essential in a world of growing diversity, complexity, and accelerating change. Inspired by research in technology innovation, the book brings its forward applications into the studies of policy and institutional systems, answering, among others, the disciplinary need for a common model of change. Relating together the dynamics and the structure of policy evolution, the unified approach offers scholars important new insights into the logics and direction of policy development while advancing policy practitioners’ capacity for forecasting and optimizing designs. Analyzing social and labour market policy development across two model jurisdictions, the United Kingdom and Denmark, it substantiates the new approach while demonstrating its significance to the study of welfare modernization and to policy scholarship more generally. The book will be of key interest to scholars and students of policy and institutional development, policy analysis, and public administration and management, as well as comparative policy, evolutionary and complexity policy, and social policy and welfare state modernization research.

How ideas in complexity can be used to develop more effective public policy Complexity science—made possible by modern analytical and computational advances—is changing the way we think about social systems and social theory. Unfortunately, economists' policy models have not kept up and are stuck in either a market fundamentalist or government control narrative. While these standard narratives are useful in some cases, they are damaging in others, directing thinking away from creative, innovative policy solutions. Complexity and the Art of Public Policy outlines a new, more flexible policy narrative, which envisions society as a complex evolving system that is uncontrollable but can be influenced. David Colander and Roland Kupers describe how economists and society became locked into the current policy framework, and lay out fresh alternatives for framing policy questions. Offering original solutions to stubborn problems, the complexity narrative builds on broader philosophical traditions, such as those in the work of John Stuart Mill, to suggest initiatives that the authors call "activist laissez-faire" policies. Colander and Kupers develop innovative bottom-up solutions that, through new institutional structures such as for-benefit corporations, channel individuals’ social instincts into solving societal problems, making profits a tool for change rather than a goal. They argue that a central role for government in this complexity framework is to foster an ecostructure within which diverse forms of social entrepreneurship can emerge and blossom.

This two-volume work is intended to map the theoretical heartland of the institutionalist perspective on political economy. Volume I, "Foundations of Institutional Thought", identifies the origins of institutional economics and explores the primary analytical tools in its development. The papers included in Volume II, "Institutional Theory and Policy", consider basic economic processes, institutions for stabilizing and planning economic activities, the role of power and accountability, and emerging global interdependence. Marc R. Tool is the editor of "Journal of Economic Issues".

Can traditional economic theory help to solve today's vexing social problems? This unique collection of thirty-six papers strongly suggests that it can. The economic approach is applied imaginatively by the authors to a wide range of contemporary issues, such as crime, higher education, the environment, revenue sharing, equity, justice, and the distribution of income. The articles also deal with governmental behavior and the role of the economist as governmental adviser. Shaped during the preparation and teaching of college classes, the book is well suited for courses in principles of economics, microeconomics, price theory, and public policy development and analysis. It should also prove a useful reference work for policy makers.

Law and economics are interdependent. Using a historical case analysis approach, this book demonstrates how the legal process relates to and is affected by economic circumstances. Glen Atkinson and Stephen P. Paschall examine this co-evolution in the context of the economic development that occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as the impact of the law on that development. Specifically, the authors explore the development of a national market, the transformation of the corporation, and the conflict between state and federal control over businesses. Their focus on dynamic, integrated systems presents an alternative to mainstream law and economics.

'The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 was a wake-up call to all who study and practice in the field of law and economics: traditional approaches are simply inadequate for understanding the co-evolution of the economic and legal systems, and that inadequacy can result in missed opportunities to warn of impending social harm. Atkinson and Paschall demonstrate the value of an alternative approach - law and economics from an evolutionary perspective - that builds on the work of John R. Commons, a leading figure in the field nearly a century ago. In the process, they offer an eye-opening historical account of the role of the state in the economy and provide a vital starting point for future policy discussions.' - Charles J. Whalen, author of Financial Instability and Economic Security after the Great Recession 'An indispensable history of business law and regulation, alongside a powerful theory of law and the courts. Glen Atkinson and Stephen P. Paschall give us an evolutionary casebook for the twenty-first century, deeply rooted in the ideas of Veblen, Commons, and other masters of the tradition.' - James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin 'The language of court documents is notably difficult to understand for people with no legal training. The present volume, a product of fruitful collaboration between a university professor and a lawyer, offers valuable assistance in translating US Supreme Court decisions made in the span of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with respect to economic disputes into the language spoken by evolutionary and institutional economists. As the authors persuasively show, law and economics co-evolve. A much-needed follow-up to and development of John Commons's Legal Foundations of Capitalism! - Anton Oleinik, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute, Russia Law and economics are interdependent. Using a historical case analysis approach, this book demonstrates how the legal process relates to and is affected by economic circumstances. Glen Atkinson and Stephen P. Paschall examine this co-evolution in the context of the economic development that occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as the impact of the law on that development. Specifically, the authors explore the development of a national market, the transformation of the corporation, and the conflict between state and federal control over businesses. Their focus on dynamic, integrated systems presents an alternative to mainstream law and economics. The authors apply John R. Commons's approach to three main law and economics issues: the changing relationship between corporations and the State, the application of the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to state and federal regulation of business, and the relationship of antitrust law to industrialization. They provide a valuable linking of law with changing economic circumstances, such as antitrust policy changes and the development of the corporate form. This analytical approach to the practice of law and economics will be of interest to researchers, students, and faculty in law and economics, economic history, constitutional law, economic regulation, public policy, and the sociology of law. Business students and researchers will also find value in this book's presentation of court decisions and exploration of economic development.

Traditional doctrines of economic policy have largely failed to address the fact that human economies are evolving, complex adaptive systems rather than equilibrating mechanisms. This volume represents a step towards a more evolutionary approach to economic policy.