Enterprise and Leadership Studies on Firms, Markets and Networks

Economic institutions such as firms, markets, governments and voluntary organizations have a crucial impact on the competitiveness of national economies. Research on economic institutions is growing rapidly, but unfortunately it often focuses on narrow issues concerning legal systems and transaction costs. This book offers a broader perspective and important practical insights into economic institutions, focusing on dynamic issues such as entrepreneurship and ethical leadership, which are crucial to institutional growth.

Extending the work of his previous books, The Entrepreneur and The Economics of Business Culture, Mark Casson analyses economic institutions from an integrated social science perspective. This perspective is based on the rational action principle of mainstream economics, modified to allow for endogenous preferences and information costs. Combining plausible assumptions with analytical rigour, the integrated approach offers important new insights into a wide range of issues, including the growth of firms, family business, regional business networks, international business elites, and the influence of cultural values on long-run economic growth. The integrated social science approach has implications for all the social sciences, and so the book is addressed to both business and management practitioners as well as scholars from a wide range of disciplines.