Douglass North, 1920-2015

Nobel laureate economist Douglass North, one of the leading figures in the new institutional economics, died yesterday. He was 95. A Washington University obituary is available here.

North was best known for his work in economic history and his focus on the role of various institutions, including property rights, in reducing transaction costs, facilitating economic growth and otherwise helping to organize human affairs. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for this work in 1993. He co-founded the International Society for the New Institutional Economics (subsequently renamed the Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics) with Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson in 1997 .

Here is the entry on North in the Library of Economics and Liberty. Here is North's Nobel lecture. And here is a comment by Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber.