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Power, ideas and culture in the ‘longue durée’ of institutional evolution: theory and application on the revolutions of property rights in Russia

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  • Carsten Herrmann-Pillath

    (Erfurt University)

Abstract

North et al. (2009) have presented a new theory of economic institutions which explains property rights in ‘limited access orders’ as outcome of intra-elite political conflict. Property rights are explained as a means of governing violence in society via the distribution of rents among elites. However, this theory does not establish systematic linkages to North’s earlier theoretical contributions on the role of informal institutions and cognition in explaining institutions. I suggest that a synthesis can be built by referring to central notions in Foucault’s work on power, the state, and knowledge, especially, the concepts of biopolitics and of governmentality as a pattern of informal institutions. The paper sketches this synthesis and applies the theory on the evolution of property rights in Russia from Catherine the Great to Putin.

Suggested Citation

  • Carsten Herrmann-Pillath, 2019. "Power, ideas and culture in the ‘longue durée’ of institutional evolution: theory and application on the revolutions of property rights in Russia," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(5), pages 1483-1506, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:29:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1007_s00191-019-00624-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-019-00624-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Hartwell, Christopher A. & Korovkin, Vladimir, 2021. "Contracting in a void: The role of the banking sector in developing property rights in Russia," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 113-127.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    North; Foucault; Russia; Property; Governmentality; Biopolitics; State capacity; Limited access orders;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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