IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcecon/v45y2017i1p171-187.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategies and public propositions in games of institutional change: Comparative historical cases

Author

Listed:
  • Aoki, Masahiko

Abstract

This paper argues that the game-theoretic approach is incomplete for institutional studies, because comparative institutions as well as institutional changes involve the possibility of multiple equilibria. In order to solve the common knowledge problem, this paper proposes to unify game theoretic thought with an analysis of public representations/propositions to summarize salient features of the recursive/emergent states of play. From this perspective the paper tries to reconcile differences in three accounts of institutions: endogenous outcome, exogenous rules and constitutive rules accounts. Then, the unified approach is applied to comparative and historical cases of Tokugawa Japan and Qing China. Specifically it sheds new light into the coalitional nature of the Tokugawa Baku-Han regime nesting the fundamental Samurai-village pact as well as the tendency toward decentralization of political violence and fiscal competence to the provincial level toward the end of Qing China. From these new historical interpretations, endogenous strategic forces and associated public propositions leading to institutional changes through the Meiji Restoration and the Xinhai Revolution are identified and compared.

Suggested Citation

  • Aoki, Masahiko, 2017. "Strategies and public propositions in games of institutional change: Comparative historical cases," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 171-187.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:1:p:171-187
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2016.04.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596716300051
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jce.2016.04.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carsten Herrmann-Pillath, 2009. "Social capital, Chinese style: individualism, relational collectivism and the cultural embeddedness of the institutions–performance link," China Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 325-350.
    2. Wolfgang Keller & Ben Li & Carol H. Shiue, 2012. "The Evolution of Domestic Trade Flows When Foreign Trade Is Liberalized: Evidence from the Chinese Maritime Customs Service," International Economic Association Series, in: Masahiko Aoki & Timur Kuran & Gérard Roland (ed.), Institutions and Comparative Economic Development, chapter 8, pages 152-172, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Masahiko Aoki, 2001. "Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011875, December.
    4. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Institutions as cognitive media between strategic interactions and individual beliefs," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 17, pages 298-312, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent & Wong, R. Bin, 2011. "Before and Beyond Divergence: The Politics of Economic Change in China and Europe," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674057913, Spring.
    6. Aoki, Masahiko, 2014. "Economic and Political Transitions from Premodern to Modern States in the Meiji Restoration and Xinhai Revolution: A Strategic Approach," ADBI Working Papers 486, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    7. Binmore, Ken, 2005. "Natural Justice," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195178111, Decembrie.
    8. Searle, John R., 2005. "What is an institution?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiwei Qian & Tuan‐Hwee Sng, 2021. "The state in Chinese economic history," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 359-395, November.
    2. Katja Kalkschmied & Joern Kleinert, 2024. "Market building by strategic interactions: The role of powerful private actors and the state," Graz Economics Papers 2024-12, University of Graz, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aoki, Masahiko, 2014. "Economic and Political Transitions from Premodern to Modern States in the Meiji Restoration and Xinhai Revolution: A Strategic Approach," ADBI Working Papers 486, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    2. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Institutions as cognitive media between strategic interactions and individual beliefs," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 17, pages 298-312, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Historical sources of institutional trajectories in economic development: China, Japan and Korea compared," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 22, pages 439-469, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Masahiko Aoki, 2011. "The Five-Phases of Economic Development and Institutional Evolution in China and Japan," Development Economics Working Papers 23196, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    5. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Comparative Institutional Analysis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15474, December.
    6. Claudius Graebner & Amineh Ghorbani, 2019. "Defining institutions - A review and a synthesis," ICAE Working Papers 89, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    7. Francesco GUALA & Frank HINDRIKS, 2013. "A Unified Social Ontology," Departmental Working Papers 2013-20, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    8. Hirokazu Takizawa, 2017. "Masahiko Aoki’s conception of institutions," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 523-540, December.
    9. Wolfgang Keller & Carol H. Shiue, 2020. "China’s Foreign Trade and Investment, 1800-1950," NBER Working Papers 27558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Alice Nicole Sindzingre, 2007. "Poverty traps: a perspective from development economics," EconomiX Working Papers 2007-26, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    11. Bolognesi, Thomas & Pflieger, Géraldine, 2024. "Do you perceive interdependencies among human activities related to water? Drivers and effects on preferences for participation and regulation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    12. Lorenzo Sacconi, 2013. "Ethics, economic organization and the social contract," Chapters, in: Anna Grandori (ed.), Handbook of Economic Organization, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Herrmann-Pillath Carsten, 2014. "Naturalizing Institutions: Evolutionary Principles and Application on the Case of Money," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 388-421, April.
    14. Lu, Jie, 2015. "Varieties of Governance in China: Migration and Institutional Change in Chinese Villages," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199378746, Decembrie.
    15. Stoelhorst, J.W. & Richerson, Peter J., 2013. "A naturalistic theory of economic organization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(S), pages 45-56.
    16. Pietro Guarnieri & Tommaso Luzzati, 2018. "Some reflections on the "battle of the sexes"," Discussion Papers 2018/239, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    17. Pietro Guarnieri, 2017. "Commitment to norms and the formation of institutions," Discussion Papers 2017/227, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    18. Tabellini, Guido & Greif, Avner, 2012. "The Clan and the City: Sustaining Cooperation in China and Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 9072, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Degli Antoni, Giacomo & Sacconi, Lorenzo, 2013. "Social responsibility, activism and boycotting in a firm–stakeholders network of games with players’ conformist preferences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 216-226.
    20. Mitchener, Kris James & Ma, Debin, 2016. "Introduction to the special issue: a new economic history of China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69191, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Comparative institutions; Institutional change; Unified approach to institutions; History of Chinese and Japanese political economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:1:p:171-187. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622864 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.