Thinking about Systems and Institutions – Engaging with János Kornai’s Scholarship

Abstract

In this paper I would like to provide an insight into the multiple usages of institutional economic theories for assessing economic phenomena and economic processes such as the functioning of different subsystems of the economy and economic structures. I will base my argumentation on János Kornai’s lifework trying to emphasize the broad vision of systemic approach, the wide range of analysing tools provided by his theoretical thinking, and the high explanatory power of his theories. This paper is influenced and motivated by the launch of the book: Systems, institutions and Values in East and West, which is a rather thought-provoking and influential book, based on the application and reconsideration of Kornai’s theories with regard to the actual economic processes.