Individuals, Institutions, and Markets offers a theory of how the institutional framework of a society emerges and how markets within institutions work. The book shows that both social institutions, defined as the rules of the game, and exchange processes can be analyzed along a common theoretical structure. Mantzavinos' proposal is that a problem solving model of individual behavior inspired by the cognitive sciences provides such a unifying theoretical structure. Integrating the latest scholarship in economics, sociology, political science, law, and anthropology, Mantzavinos offers a genuine political economy showing how social institutions affect economic outcomes.

C. Mantzavinos teaches Economics at the University of Freiburg and the University of Bayreuth.

Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Individuals: 1. Explaining individual behavior: the problem-solving framework; 2. The motivational aspect: the strive for utility increase; 3. The cognitive aspect: the theory of learning; 4. The choice aspect; Part II. Institutions: 5. Shared mental models: emergence and evolution; 6. Explaining institutions; 7. Informal institutions; 8. Formal institutions; Part III. Markets: 9. Institutions and the market: the aggregate level; 10. Institutions and market: the microeconomic level; 11. The theory of evolutionary competition; 12. An application: institutions, markets, and economic development; Concluding observations: unified social science as political economy?; References; Author index; Subject index.