One of the most important developments in the social sciences in the last 20 years is the increasing recognition of the importance of institutional structures. This understanding is vital, for matters ranging from economic development to business efficiency. The more perceptive commentators recognise that the understanding of institutions and organisations also involves an appraisal of human nature, as situated in and moulded by these structures. Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto is one of this group. In a fresh and stimulating institutional analysis, he focuses on the key works of Frederick W. Taylor, Herbert A. Simon and Oliver E. Williamson. These important but contrasting approaches create a vital zone of enquiry, within which the author brings an engaging and interdisciplinary perspective. The result is a book that should be of interest for all social scientists wishing to understand the interactions between individuals and organisations
Introduction 1. A Question of Method and Approach: In Search of Human Nature in Social Science Research on Institutional Organization? Part I: Different Approaches to Industrial Organization: On the Relevance of Portraying Human Nature in Economics and in Behavioural Sciences 2. The Economic Approach to Institutional Organization: The Incentive-compatibility of the Situation, Contribution-distribution Interactions, and Interest Equilibration 3. Behavioural Approaches to Institutional Organization: Analyzing Behaviour Through a 'Science of Human Nature Part II: Putting the Question of Human Nature into Perspective: An Institutional Economic Reconstruction of Organization Theory 4. In Search of Organizational Economics: Taylors, Simons, and Williamsons Conceptualization of Institutional Organization 5. Conceptualizing Skills Utilization: Modelling Human Capital as Boundedly Rational or as Asset Specific? 6. Conceptualizing the Evolution of Institutional Organization: Economics of Environmental Change or a Behavioural Discovery Process of 'True Human Nature? 7. Conceptualizing Motivation and Decision-making in Organizational Economics: Research Heuristics or the Portrayal of 'Human Nature As We Know It? 8. Concluding Discussion: The End of Ethics or Is Economics the Better Moral Science? Bibliography