Wachstumstheorie und Geschichtsphilosophie

Abstract

The Theory of Institutional Change in its version by Douglass C. North tries to explain why in some countries institutional change and economic growth occurs, while in other countries institutional standstill and economic stagnation is persistent by integrating institutions into neoclassical growth theory. Institutions are capable of lowering transaction costs. This approach raises the claim to be a conceptual framework for interpreting entire recorded human history and thus pursues a universal-historical intention. According to this framework, throughout all of human history there have been just three institutional orders: the primitive order, the limited access order, and finally the open access order. In doing so the Theory of Institutional Change presumes that history conforms to certain characteristics such as meaningfulness, rationality, unity, momentum, necessity and directionality. This, however, makes the Theory of Institutional Change not only to an economic growth theory, but also to a philosophy of history.