ABSTRACT

This chapter presents several key analytical concepts of institutions for the author’s comparative analysis and main features of institutions found in East Asian economies. It summarizes some critical issues emerging from the existing literature regarding the interrelationships between institutions, policies and development in sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter examines and discusses several concepts useful for comparative institutional analysis in the light of East Asian experiences. Those concepts includes institutional environments and organizational governance structures; markets, evolution of markets and market failures; the roles of government, the nature of the state/government and its failures; and governance structures and mechanisms. The chapter highlights the critical differences in the government -private agents relationships in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on institutional arrangements and governance structures and mechanisms. It suggests that economic development proceeds when social enforcement mechanisms move up from unwritten taboos, customs and traditions at one end to third-party enforcement under written constitutions at the other end.