Explores the nature of institutions and institutional change.

Part I. Institutions: 1. An introduction to institutions and institutional change; 2. Cooperation: the theoretical problem; 3. The behavioural assumptions in a theory of institutions; 4. A transaction cost theory of exchange; 5. Informal constraints; 6. Formal constraints; 7. Enforcement; 8. Institutions and transaction and transformation costs; Part II. Institutional Change: 9. Organizations, learning, and institutional change; 10. Stability and institutional change; 11. The path of institutional change; Part III. Economic Performance: 12. Institutions, economic theory, and economic performance; 13. Stablity and change in economic history; 14. Incorporating institutional analysis into economic history: prospects and puzzles.