Sukharev Oleg S. Theory of Economic Changes:
Problems and Decisions

Contents

Introduction

This book is an attempt to bring out the guidelines of economic changes theory, having highlighted the basic problems and prospects of the theory development. The problem is both difficult, and ambitious, and it does not promise prompt solutions in every aspect. However, for its solution I have selected the following scheme of actions: studying the fundamental reasons of institutional inefficiency, the problems of economic growth and institutions quality, the description of machinery and technologies development mechanism, the research of institutional changes and institutional movement trajectories, provision of a new approach to efficiency estimation of economy functioning at organization's various levels, including the problems of contracting and legal efficiency, and on this basis explanation of transmission mechanism of economic policy.

There are four basic reasons of economic changes: 1) quantitative and qualitative change of the population; 2) change of accumulated knowledge and technological experience; 3) change of basic and subsidiary institutions ("rules infrastructure"); 4) change of the reaction models (agents' intentionality) and the models of influence on the economic system (political decisions and management). Many economists are of the same opinion. In particular, Douglass Cecil North enumerates the similar reasons in his book "Understanding the Process of Economic Changes". One of my tasks was to make North's vague conclusions and loose definitions more or less theoretical, having suggested or improved the method for studying economic changes within the frameworks of institutional and evolutionary analysis.

I would like to mention "International Scientific Researches" journal and its editor-in-chief S.V.Gorin for publication of my articles in English which are the basis of this book, and for the permission to use this material in the book; economic journal of Montenegro where 3 articles, the ideas of which have been reflected here, were published. I would like to express my special gratitude to Alla Vladimirovna Nikitina, the Director of Russian Publishing House "Kurs" ("Course") "Infra-M", the longstanding editor of my works Nataliya Fedorovna Karpycheva, and my constant translator Galina Gennadjevna Lepeshkina. This book would have never been published in English without their participation and selfless labor. I am fully responsible for the scientific part of the book and G.G.Lepeshkina bears responsibility for its translation.

About author

Dr, Professor, Senior Fellow at the Center of Evolutionary Theory and Economic Development Institute of Economics Russian Academy of Science, University Professor of Finance of the Russian Government, the author of more than 20 books and more than 300 paper on institutional economics, macroeconomics policy, innovation theory of the firm and industry, the theory of economic growth and institutional change. The author of the concept of dysfunction of institutions and economic systems, has developed a method for measuring dysfunctional states and evaluate the effectiveness of the system of economic organization, has proposed a model neoshumpeterian competition such as "innovator-conservative" with the correction of the findings for economic policy.

El autor

Oleg S. Sukharev

Oleg S. Sukharev

(www.osukharev.com)

Professor, Head of Laboratory of Institutional Economics at the Institute of Problems of Market of the Russian Academy of Science. Chief researcher of the Institute of Economy RAS. Author of more than 20 books and more than 300 papers on institutional economics, macroeconomics policy, innovation theory of companies and industry, theory of economic growth and institutional change. Oleg S. Sukharev is the author of the concept of dysfunction of institutions and economic systems, has developed a method for measuring dysfunctional states and evaluating the effectiveness of the system of economic organization, and proposed a model of neo-Shumpeterian competition “innovator–conservative” with correction of the findings for economic policy.