This volume contains twenty-two papers presented at the VIII AISPE conference which was held at the University of Palermo, Faculty of Political Sciences. All the papers deal in whole or in part with the relationship between economic theory and economic institutions in historical perspective. The organizing Committee felt this was an area of the history of economics that had received a renewed attention and which contained numerous opportunities for new and interesting research in the following areas: i. the influence of economic ideas or of single economists upon the creation and the governance of specific institutions; ii. the way the actual working and organization of institutions may have influenced the growth of economic theory and knowledge; and, finally, iii. the economic theory of institutions in historical perspective.
The volume is divided into four sections. The first section, "The Institutional and Ethical Foundations of the Market," includes those papers which emphasize how markets, to work as they should, need institutions or are somehow influenced by institutions. The second section - "Knowledge, Advocacy and Institutions" - focuses on how economic theory influenced the actual working of institutions, here meant as established organizations or foundations, especially those dedicated to the economy, education, public service, or culture. The third section, "Institutions and Economic Theory," explores with several versions of institutional economics ranging from the so-called "old" institutionalism, to the more recent evolutionary approaches. The fourth section, "Institutions and the Spread of Economic Thought," studies how certain academic institutions - from research institutes or universities to foundations or economic societies - played an active role in channelling the evolution of economic thinking, both in terms of its theoretical and policy-making influence and international diffusion.