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A complexity perspective on institutional design

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  • Scott E. Page

    ()

    (University of Michigan, USA)

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    Abstract

    The task of designing effective economic and political institutions requires substantial foresight. The designer must anticipate not only the behavior of individual actors, but also how that behavior will aggregate. Rising complexity brought about by increases in speeds of adaptation, diversity, connectedness, and interdependence make institutional design all the more challenging. Given the focus on equilibria, the extant literature on mechanism design might appear incapable of coping with this complexity. Yet, I suggest that a deeper engagement with the origins of the mechanism-design framework reveals insights that may help us design robust, adaptive institutions that can harness complexity.

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    File URL: http://ppe.sagepub.com/content/11/1/5.abstract
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    Article provided by in its journal Politics, Philosophy & Economics.

    Volume (Year): 11 (2012)
    Issue (Month): 1 (February)
    Pages: 5-25

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    Handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:11:y:2012:i:1:p:5-25
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    Keywords: mechanism design; complexity; robustness; learning;

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    1. Bank for International Settlements, 2009. "An assessment of financial sector rescue programmes," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 48, March.
    2. Stolz, Stéphanie Marie & Wedow, Michael, 2010. "Extraordinary measures in extraordinary times – Public measures in support of the financial sector in the EU and the United States," Occasional Paper Series 117, European Central Bank.
    3. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2009. "Varieties of Crises and Their Dates," Introductory Chapters,in: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Princeton University Press.
    4. Gerlach, Stefan & Schulz, Alexander & Wolff, Guntram B., 2010. "Banking and sovereign risk in the euro area," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2010,09, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre.
    5. Ejsing, Jacob & Lemke, Wolfgang, 2011. "The Janus-headed salvation: Sovereign and bank credit risk premia during 2008-2009," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 28-31, January.
    6. Aviram Levy & Andrea Zaghini, 2010. "The pricing of government-guaranteed bank bonds," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 753, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Giuseppe Grande & Aviram Levy & Fabio Panetta & Andrea Zaghini, 2012. "Public Guarantees on Bank Bonds: Effectiveness and Distortions," OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends, OECD Publishing, vol. 2011(2), pages 47-72.
    8. Aviram Levy & Sebastian Schich, 2010. "The Design of Government Guarantees for Bank Bonds: Lessons from the Recent Financial Crisis," OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends, OECD Publishing, vol. 2010(1), pages 35-66.
    9. Ashoka Mody, 2009. "From Bear Stearns to Anglo Irish; How Eurozone Sovereign Spreads Related to Financial Sector Vulnerability," IMF Working Papers 09/108, International Monetary Fund.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bednar, Jenna & Jones-Rooy, Andrea & Page, Scott E., 2015. "Choosing a future based on the past: Institutions, behavior, and path dependence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 312-332.

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