Reflections on the Elements of Institutional Analysis

Abstract

"The general framework developed in 'The Three Worlds of Action: A Metatheoretical Synthesis of Institutional Approaches' (Kiser and E. Ostrom, 1982) was an attempt to integrate work by economists, political scientists, anthropologists, lawyers, and others studying the effects of institutions on behavior. During the five years since that effort, we and some of our students have refined several aspects of the framework and have applied it to several problems in institutional analysis. We have also applied the framework to a series of empirical studies and have examined its relationship to theories in public choice and new institutional economics. Now, in light of this additional work, we want to revisit the framework. The original article developed two separate but related theses. One thesis distinguished among three kinds of decision making (constitutional, collective, and operational choice) and developed relationships among them. The other thesis specified several elements useful for analysis within each kind of decision making. The current paper focuses exclusively on the second thesis and develops each element of the framework, incorporating our thoughts from the past five years."