This book explores institutional change and economic behaviour by examining the transition process in the former socialist countries that joined the EU in 2004, looking at the growth occurring in China, offering a historical perspective on economic underdevelopment in the Middle East, and discussing the neo-classical paradigm.

PHILIPPE AGHION Harvard University, USA
MASAHIKO AOKI Stanford University, USA
KEN BINMORE University College London, UK
HERBERT GINTIS University of Massachusetts, USA; Sante Fe Institute, USA
GEOFFREY M. HODGSON University of Hertfordshire Business School, UK
THORBJØRN KNUDSEN University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
TIMUR KURAN University of Tokyo, Japan
EDMUND S. PHELPS Cornell University, USA
YINGYI QIAN University of California, Berkeley, USA
JOE SWIERZBINSKI University of Aberdeen Business School, UK
JINGLIAN WU Development Research Center, Beijing, China; China-Europe International Business School, Shanghai, China

Introduction; J.Kornai, L.Mátyás & G.Roland The Great Transformation of Central-Eastern Europe: Success and Disappointment; J.Kornai Transformation in China; Y.Qian & J.Wu Institutional Causes of Economic Underdevelopment in the Middle East: An Historical Perspective; T.Kuran Understanding the Great Changes in the World: Gaining Ground and Losing Ground since World War II; E.S.Phelps The Schumpeterian Approach to Education and Growth; P.Aghion Analyzing Institutional Change; M .Aoki Fast-Moving and Slow-Moving Institutions; G.Roland The Endowment Effect and the Origin of Private Property; H.Gintis The Complex Evolution of a Simple Traffic Convention: The Functions and Implications of Habit; G.M.Hodgson & T.Knudsen Implications of Behavioural Game Theory for Neoclassical Economic Theory; H.Gintis A Little Behavioralism Can Go a Long Way; K.Binmore & J.Swierzbinski