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Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
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AnettaČaplánová
2.PublicChoiceasanIntegralPartoftheNewInstitutional
Economics
Sinceitsfoundationinthesecondhalfofthe20thcentury,thenewinstitutional
approach,andpublicchoicetheoryasanintegralpartofit,hasgainedincreasing
attention.Thenewinstitutionaleconomicsoffersalternativeexplanationsofmany
processesthathavetobeaddressedbycurrenteconomiesatboththemicroand
macrolevels.Explanationsandsolutionsthatareofferedbythenewinstitutional
theory,oftenofaninterdisciplinarynature,respondtothoseaspectsoftheeco-
nomicandsocialdevelopmentwhichhavebeenignoredbymainstreameconomic
theory.
Thenewinstitutionaleconomicsfocusesprimarilyontheanalysisofinstitu-
tionsandtheirinteractions.Representativesofthenewinstitutionaleconomics
abandonedtheassumptionsofneoclassicaleconomics,whichholdthateconomic
agentsareperfectlyinformedandactrationally,andthattransactioncostsare
zero.Intheneoclassicalworldofzerotransactioncosts,theinstitutionsdonotplay
anyroleineconomicactivitiesforexample,intheorganisationofproduction,
theownershipofthefactorsofproduction,ortheseparationoftheownershipfrom
management.Whetherhouseholdsmaketheirchoiceontheprivatemarketorin
thepublicsectordoesnothaveaneffectontheallocationofresourcesandisnot
amatterdecidedbyinstitutions.Theneoclassicalmodelmaintainsthattheworld
haszerotransactioncosts,perfectforesight,clearlydefinedpropertyrightsand
fixedandbindingeconomiccontracts.Suchanotionofsocietyisclearlyandin
manywaysfarfromreality.
Thenewinstitutionaleconomicsassumesthatindividualsareimperfectly
informed,accesstoinformationisassociatedwithpositivetransactioncostsand
economicagentsoperateunderuncertainty.Itisassumedthatformalandinformal
institutionswerecreatedasawaytoreducetransactioncosts.Itisalsorecognised
thatexistinginstitutionsandwaysoforganisingtheeconomysignificantlyaffect
thefunctioningofmarketeconomiesandcontemporarysocieties.
Despitetherejectionoftheaboveassumptionsofneoclassicalanalysis,thenew
institutionaleconomicsusesseveralofitsmethodologicalfoundations(forexam-
ple,methodologicalindividualism,theassumptionthateconomicagentsbehave
rationally,andthemarginalapproach).However,itdirectsourattentiontonew
questions,particularlytotheimportanceofalternativeinstitutionalarrangements
forthefunctioningoftheeconomyandsociety.Thenewinstitutionaleconom-
icsappliestheinterdisciplinaryapproachusingrelevantknowledgefrompolitical
sciences,sociology,anthropology,legalstudiesandotherdisciplines.
Themethodologyofthenewinstitutionaltheoryisbasedonthepositionof
methodologicalindividualism,withthebasicunitofitsanalysisbeingawelfare