Douglass Cecil North
Douglass Cecil North se narodil 5. listopadu 1920 v Cambridge, stát Massachusetts. Otec pracoval jako vedoucí v nemocnici. V následujících letech se rodina často stěhovala, žila také nějaký čas v Evropě, poté v Kanadě a v roce 1933 se vrátila opět do USA. Je dvakrát ženatý, poprvé se oženil v roce 1944, (synové Douglass, Christopher, Malcolm), podruhé v roce 1972, kdy si vzal za ženu Elisabeth Case.
Středoškolská studia zakončil D. North na Choate School ve Wallingfordu (stát Connecticut), kde se též intenzívně zajímal o fotografování. Začal studovat politologii, filozofii a ekonomii na University of California v Berkeley. Po vypuknutí války vstoupil do obchodní námořní flotily, kde se stal navigátorem. Díky nepřetržité četbě zde dospěl k přesvědčení, že se stane ekonomem. V posledním roce války však ještě vyučoval navigaci v Kalifornii.
Svoji disertační práci psal na téma historie životního pojištění ve Spojených státech. Díky tomu získal místo v Radě společenskovědního výzkumu. Zapojil se do práce v Entrepreneurial School of Arthur Cole na Harvardu. Velice ho také v této době ovlivnil Joseph Schumpeter. První práce D. Northa se soustředily na analýzu životního pojištění a na její vztah k investičnímu bankovnictví.
Další z oblastí jeho práce bylo vytváření analytického rámce pro zkoumání regionálního hospodářského růstu. Výsledek byl shrnut v článku „Teorie umístění a regionální hospodářský růst“ (Journal of Political Economy).
V letech 1956 – 57 působil D. North jako výzkumný asistent v National Bureau of Economic Research. Setkával se zde se Simonem Kuznetsem a vytvořil kvantitativní studii platební bilance Spojených států v letech 1790 až 1860. V následujících letech vykonal D. North hlavní práci v oblasti americké ekonomické historie, která byla shrnuta v knize „The Economic Growth of the United States from 1790 to 1860“. Byla to otevřená analýza fungování trhů v souvislosti s teorií růstu založeného na vývozu jedné hlavní komodity.
V letech 1966 – 67 získal stipendium v Ženevě, čímž přešel od americké k evropské historii. Nabyl zde přesvědčení, že nástroje neoklasické ekonomické teorie nejsou schopny vysvětlit základní společenské změny, kterými se vyznačovaly evropské společnosti. Bylo potřeba nových nástrojů, které však neexistovaly. D. North se proto začal zajímat o novou institucionální ekonomii. Pokusil se vyvinout některé nástroje institucionální analýzy a aplikovat je na ekonomickou historii. Toto úsilí shrnul D. North ve dvou knihách „Institutional Change and American Economic Growth“ (spolu s L. Davisem) a „The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History“ (spolu s R. Thomasem). D. North zde shledal nemožnost vysvětlit v neoklasickém rámci dlouhodobě nízkou ekonomickou výkonnost. Zdůraznil zde důležitou úlohu předsudků, myšlenek, ideologií jedinců a podrobil postulát racionality kritickému přezkoumání. V knize „Structure and Change in Economic History“ (1981) opustil D. North představu efektivnosti institucí a pokusil se vysvětlit, proč budou přetrvávat neefektivní pravidla. Vycházel přitom z jednoduché neoklasické teorie státu, která mohla vysvětlit, proč stát produkuje pravidla, která nejsou efektivní.
V 80. letech opustil University of Washington a přešel na Washington University v St. Louis, kde se pokoušela zajímavá skupina mladých politologů a ekonomů vyvinout nové modely politické ekonomie. V roce 1990 shrnul výsledky zkoumání dlouhodobých institucionálních změn do publikace „Institutional Change and Economic Performance“.
Douglass C. North analyzoval historický vývoj institucí a jejich úlohu v ekonomickém systému, zkoumal též motivy, které vedou ke změnám institucí. Právě toto bylo jeho nejdůležitějším přínosem.
Od roku 1995 je Douglass C. North mj. nositelem čestného titulu Doctor Honoris Causa VŠE v Praze.
Knihy
NORTH, D. C. The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790-1860. Prentice-Hall, 1961.
NORTH, D. C. Growth and Welfare in the American Past: A new Economic History. Prentice-Hall; foreign translations and 2nd & 3rd editions in subsequent years, 1966.
NORTH, D. C., THOMAS, R. P. A Documentary History of American Economic Growth, 1607-1860 (ed.), Thomas, Harper and Row, 1968.
NORTH, D. C., MILLER, R. L. The Economics of Public Issues. Harper and Row (1971); eight editions and several foreign translations in subsequent years.
NORTH, D. C., DAVIS, L. E. Institutional Change and American Economic Growth. Cambridge University Press, 1971.
NORTH, D. C., THOMAS, R. P. The Rise of the Western World: A new Economic History. Cambridge University Press, 1973; Italian, Spanish and French translations, 1975-76; Dutch and Japanese translations, 1980.
NORTH, D. C. Structure and Change in Economic History. W.W. Norton & Co., 1981; Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Japanese, and Chinese translations in subsequent years.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
NORTH, D. C. Four Lectures in Regional Economic Analysis. Presented at the Getulio Vargas Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Revista Brasileira de Economia, September 1961.
NORTH, D. C. The United States Balance of Payments 1790-1860, Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century. 24th Conference on Income and Wealth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Princeton University Press, 1960.
Články
NORTH, D. C. Some Recent Views of the Modern Large Corporation. Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, Harvard University, vol. II, no. 2, 1950, p. 71-90.
NORTH, D. C. Capital Accumulation in Life Insurance between the Civil War and the Investigation of 1905. Men in Business, W. Miller (ed.), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Chapter IX, 1952, p. 238-253.
NORTH, D. C. Entrepreneurial Policy and the Internal Organization in Large Life Insurance Companies at the Time of the Armstrong Investigation. Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, Harvard University, vol. V, no. 3, 1953, p. 139-161.
NORTH, D. C. Life Insurance and Investment Banking at the Time of the Armstrong Investigation. Journal of Economic History, Summer 1954, p. 209-228.
NORTH, D. C. Location Theory and Regional Economic Growth. Journal of Political Economy, June 1955.
NORTH, D. C. The Future of Wheat and American Farm Policy. Pacific Northwest Business, May 1955.
NORTH, D. C. The Spatial and Interregional Framework of the United States Economy: An Historical Perspective. Proceedings of the Regional Science Association, Spring 1956.
NORTH, D. C. Exports and Regional Growth: A Reply. Journal of Political Economy, April 1956.
NORTH, D. C. Agenda for a History of Management Policies Towards Labor. Journal of Economic History, Spring/Summer 1956.
NORTH, D. C. International Capital Flows and the Development of the American West. Journal of Economic History, December 1956.
NORTH, D. C. The Corporation. Encyclopedia Americana, 1958.
NORTH, D. C. A Note on Professor Rostow´s Take-off into Self-Sustained Growth. The Manchester School, January 1958.
NORTH, D. C. Ocean Freight Rates and Economics Development 1750-1910. Journal of Economic History, December. Paper presented at the Economic History Meetings of September, 1958.
NORTH, D. C. Agriculture in Regional Economic Growth, Journal of Farm Economics. Proceedings of the 1959 Annual Meeting, December 1959.
NORTH, D. C., HESTON, A. The Estimation of Shipping Earnings in Historical Balance of Payments Studies. Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, May 1960.
NORTH, D. C. The United States in the International Economy, 1790-1950. American Economic History, Seymour Harris (ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
NORTH, D. C. International Capital Movements in Historical Perspective. U.S. Private and Government Investment Abroad, R.F. Mikesell (ed.), Eugene: University of Oregon Press, 1960.
NORTH, D. C. Early National Income Estimates of the United States. Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago, vol. IX, no. 3, 1961.
NORTH, D. C. Quantitative Research in American Economic History. American Economic Review, vol. LIII, no. 1, part 1, 1963.
NORTH, D. C. The Population Problem-Discussion, Comments on John Habakkuk´s Paper. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, vol. LIII, no. 2, 1963.
NORTH, D. C. Industrialization in the United States. Cambridge Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. VI, 1964.
NORTH, D. C. The Acceleration of Economic Growth in the United States, 1815-1860. The Economics of the Take-Off, W.W. Rostow (ed.), International Economic Association, 1964.
NORTH, D. C. Comments on Stuart Bruchey´s Paper. Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, vol. 1, no. 2, 1964.
NORTH, D. C. Capital Formation in the United States during the Early Period of Industrialization: A Reexamination of the Issues. Proceedings of the Second International Conference in Economic History, 1962, International Economic History Association, 1964.
NORTH, D. C. The State of Economic History. American Economic Review, May 1965.
NORTH, D. C. The Role of Transportation in the Economic Development of North America. Proceedings published in Paris for the International Congress of Historical Science: Les Grandes Voies Maritimes dans le Monde, XVe-XIXe Siecles, 1968.
NORTH, D. C. A new Economic History of Europe. Festschrift in honor of Walter Hoffman, 1968.
NORTH, D. C. Sources of Productivity Change in Ocean Shipping 1600-1850. Journal of Political Economy, September 1968.
NORTH, D. C., DAVIS, L. E. Institutional Change and American Economic Growth: A First Step Towards A Theory of Institutional Innovation, Journal of Economic History, March 1970.
NORTH, D. C., THOMAS, R. P. The Rise and Fall of the Manorial System: A Theoretical Model. Journal of Economic History, December 1971.
NORTH, D. C. Government and the American Economy. American Economic Growth: An Economic History of the United States, Harper and Row, 1971.
NORTH, D. C. Beyond the New Economic History. Journal of Economic History, March 1974.
NORTH, D. C., THOMAS, R. P. The Role of Governments in Economic Growth. Comment, Journal of Economic History, March 1975.
NORTH, D. C. Economic Growth: What Have We Learned from the Past. International Organization, National Policies and Economic Development, supplement to The Journal of Monetary Economics, 1975.
NORTH, D. C. Political Economy and Environmental Law. Spring 1975.
NORTH, D. C., THOMAS, R. P. The First Economic Revolution. Economic History Review, May 1975.
NORTH, D. C. The New Economic History after Twenty Years. American Behavioral Scientist, November-December 1975.
NORTH, D. C. Markets and Other Allocation Systems in History: The Challenge of Karl Polanyi. Journal of European Economic History, vol. 6, no. 3, 1975.
NORTH, D. C. Evaluating Three Schools of Economic History. Journal of Economic History, March 1978.
NORTH, D. C. Structure and Performance: The Task of Economic History. Journal of Economic Literature, September 1978.
NORTH, D. C. A Framework for Analyzing the State in Economic History. Explorations in Economic History, July 1979.
NORTH, D. C. The Second Economic Revolution in the United States. Revoluzione industriole e processo di industrializzione, 1982.
NORTH, D. C., LEVI, M. Toward a Property Rights Theory of Exploitation. Politics and Society, vol. 11, no. 3, 1982, p. 315-320.
NORTH, D. C., WALLIS, J. American Government Expenditures: An Historical Perspective. American Economic Review, Proceedings, May 1982.
NORTH, D. C. Cultural Change and the Second Economic Revolution, The Impact of American Culture on Finland, 1983.
NORTH, D. C. Comment on Stigler and Friedland´s „The Literature of Economics: The Case of Berle and Means“. The Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 26, June 1983.
NORTH, D. C. The Second Economic Revolution in the United States. Proceedings on the Industrial Revolution and Technological Change, 1983.
NORTH, D. C. Transaction Costs, Institutions, and Economic History. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, March 1984.
NORTH, D. C. Government and the Costs of Exchange in History. Journal of Economic History, June 1984.
NORTH, D. C. The Early Development of Federal Regulation in the United States. Proceedings of the 1983 Italian-American Conference of Economic Historians, 1984.
NORTH, D. C. Transaction Costs in History. Journal of European Economic History, Winter 1985.
NORTH, D. C. The Growth and Government in the United States: An Economic Historian´s Perspective. Journal of Public Economics, vol. 28, 1985.
NORTH, D. C. The New Institutional Economics. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, March 1986.
NORTH, D. C. Is it Worth Making Sease of Marx?. Inquiry, March 1986.
NORTH, D. C. The Economics of the Constitution. The Senior Economist, October 1986.
NORTH, D. C., WALLIS, J. Measuring the Transaction Sector in the American Economy, 1870-1970. Income and Wealth: Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth (eds.), Stanley L. Engerman and Robert E. Gallman, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions, Transaction Costs and Economic Growth. Economic Inquiry, July 1987.
NORTH, D. C., RUTTEN, A. The Northwest Ordinance in Historical Perspective. Essays on the Old Northwest, David Klingerman and Richard Vedder (eds.), Ohio University Press, 1987.
NORTH, D. C. Ideology and Political/Economic Institutions. The Cato Journal, July 1988.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions, Economic Growth and Freedom: An Historical Introduction, Freedom, Democracy and Economic Welfare, The Fraser Institute, 1988.
NORTH, D. C., WALLIS, J. Should transaction costs be subracted from Growth National Product. Journal of Economic History, September 1988.
NORTH, D. D. Institutional Change and Economic History, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, March 1989.
NORTH, D. C., WEINGAST, B. Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in 17th Century England. Journal of Economic History, December 1989.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions and Economic Growth: An Historical Introduction. World Development, vol. 7-9, 1989.
NORTH, D. C. A Transaction Cost Approach to the Historical Development of Polities and Economics. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economies, December 1989.
NORTH, D. C., MILGROM, P., WEINGAST, B. The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs. Economics and Politics, March 1990.
NORTH, D. C. A Transaction Cost Theory of Politics. Journal of Theoretical Politics, November 1990.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions. Journal of Economic Perspectives, February 1991.
NORTH, D. C. Privatization, Incentives, and Economic Performance in Privatization. Symposium in Honor of Herbert Giersch, 1992.
NORTH, D. C. Transaction Costs, Institutions and Economic Performance, Occasional Paper # 30 for the International Center for Economic Growth, 1992.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions, Ideology and Economic Performance. The Cato Journal, vol. II, # 3, Part II, 1992.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions and Credible Commitment Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. March 1993.
NORTH, D. C. Institutions and Economic Performance. In Mäki, Gustafsson and Knudsen (eds.), Rationality, Institutions, and Economic Methodology, London: Routledge, 1993.
NORTH, D. C. Toward a Theory of Institutional Change. In Barnett, Hinich, and Schofield (eds.), Political Economy: Institutions, Competition, and Representation, Cambridge University Press, 1993.