Institutions have both positive and negative effects on economic
performance. The theoretical and empirical understanding of the roles
played by institutions, norms and culture in the functioning of markets
still is limited. This book contributes to a better understanding of the
role played by institutions in economic life and to more balanced and
better founded policy decisions related to the (re)structuring of
industrial economies in response to the structural changes -
internationalisation of the economies, the advances in information and
communication technology and the ageing of populations - they all are
confronted with.