ABSTRACT
We defi ne the fundamental concept of institutions as the equilibria of games and that exist as rules of games. Therefore, a basic premise was that institutions emerge endogenously from a series of social interactions; accordingly, they are the result of the equilibrium selection of games. We assumed that, initially, there were no existing institutions; that is to say, it was a world with “zero rules of games.” After a long period of evolution, some specifi c equilibria became stable states (for example, social rules). Then those conventions might have been followed by most people, and they persist as the rules of games for the emergence of other institutions.
