Lee Alston | Indiana University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Lee Alston
Empirical Studies in Institutional Change
The American Historical Review, 1982
Journal of Development Economics, Aug 1, 1995
Southern Economic Journal, Oct 1, 1999
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 13, 1996
CHAPTER 9 Violence and the assignment of property rights on two Brazilian frontiers Lee J. Alston... more CHAPTER 9 Violence and the assignment of property rights on two Brazilian frontiers Lee J. Alston University of Colorado and University of Illinois Gary D. Libecap University of Arizona and NBER Robert Schneider World Bank 1 Introduction Frontiers are often associated with ...
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 4, 2018
The Journal of Economic History, Jun 1, 1983
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Jun 1, 1992
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington St... more PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY ...
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2008
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
To understand leadership, it is necessary to understand the purpose of an organization. Organizat... more To understand leadership, it is necessary to understand the purpose of an organization. Organizations are hierarchies with leaders at the top. Why do we have leaders instead of an algorithm making decisions? The theory of the firm recognizes benefits to centralizing authority but these organizational benefits from hierarchy have not been clearly separated from the specific contributions of leaders. Leadership is the ability to successfully manage transaction costs of an organization. Prominent amongst organizational transaction costs are agency and coordination costs. The balance between these two types of costs depends on the purpose of the organization. We hypothesize that changing leaders is likely to have a larger effect within organizations with relatively lower scope or scale of purpose because of the way in which decision rights tend to be relatively concentrated in such organizations. We test our hypotheses with data on NFL coaches, and deans of business and law schools.
The Journal of Economic History, 2017
Beliefs shape the choices of institutions. Beliefs are generally stable, but shocks that cause su... more Beliefs shape the choices of institutions. Beliefs are generally stable, but shocks that cause sufficiently unexpected economic and political outcomes make beliefs malleable. Within these windows of opportunity, leadership can play a role in shaping a new belief among the dominant organizations that in turn generates new institutions and over time a possible transition to a new developmental trajectory.
Liberalization and its Consequences
The essays in this volume describe, analyse and compare the achievements and the failures of soci... more The essays in this volume describe, analyse and compare the achievements and the failures of societies that adopted market-based economies within a democratic polity after a long period of communist rule (Russia and Eastern Europe) or military authoritarianism (Latin America). Together, they also trace the rocky course of liberal economic policies over the whole twentieth century.
Institutions, Contracts and Organizations
Empirical Studies in Institutional Change
The American Historical Review, 1982
Journal of Development Economics, Aug 1, 1995
Southern Economic Journal, Oct 1, 1999
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 13, 1996
CHAPTER 9 Violence and the assignment of property rights on two Brazilian frontiers Lee J. Alston... more CHAPTER 9 Violence and the assignment of property rights on two Brazilian frontiers Lee J. Alston University of Colorado and University of Illinois Gary D. Libecap University of Arizona and NBER Robert Schneider World Bank 1 Introduction Frontiers are often associated with ...
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 4, 2018
The Journal of Economic History, Jun 1, 1983
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Jun 1, 1992
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington St... more PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY ...
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2008
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
To understand leadership, it is necessary to understand the purpose of an organization. Organizat... more To understand leadership, it is necessary to understand the purpose of an organization. Organizations are hierarchies with leaders at the top. Why do we have leaders instead of an algorithm making decisions? The theory of the firm recognizes benefits to centralizing authority but these organizational benefits from hierarchy have not been clearly separated from the specific contributions of leaders. Leadership is the ability to successfully manage transaction costs of an organization. Prominent amongst organizational transaction costs are agency and coordination costs. The balance between these two types of costs depends on the purpose of the organization. We hypothesize that changing leaders is likely to have a larger effect within organizations with relatively lower scope or scale of purpose because of the way in which decision rights tend to be relatively concentrated in such organizations. We test our hypotheses with data on NFL coaches, and deans of business and law schools.
The Journal of Economic History, 2017
Beliefs shape the choices of institutions. Beliefs are generally stable, but shocks that cause su... more Beliefs shape the choices of institutions. Beliefs are generally stable, but shocks that cause sufficiently unexpected economic and political outcomes make beliefs malleable. Within these windows of opportunity, leadership can play a role in shaping a new belief among the dominant organizations that in turn generates new institutions and over time a possible transition to a new developmental trajectory.
Liberalization and its Consequences
The essays in this volume describe, analyse and compare the achievements and the failures of soci... more The essays in this volume describe, analyse and compare the achievements and the failures of societies that adopted market-based economies within a democratic polity after a long period of communist rule (Russia and Eastern Europe) or military authoritarianism (Latin America). Together, they also trace the rocky course of liberal economic policies over the whole twentieth century.
Institutions, Contracts and Organizations