Content and objectives
When we think about the institutions like a welfare system, quite often we have an impression that politics is the main factor in their design. However, it is not true, or not fully true. Many institutions developed naturally through time, driven by economic and practical problems, social habits, or even some historical events. Therefore, the institutional design combines together politics, economy, sociology, history, and even philosophy. For the economists, especially those studying social protection policies, the problem of institutions, they design and redesign, is essential, since it helps to understand the social security systems, the ways in which they work, and different approaches to their reform.

The main objective of this course is to provide students with the tools necessary for the analysis of institutions. The course gives an overview of the institutional economics and new institutionalism, introduces different theories of the institutional design, trying to combine different disciplines studying institutional factors in our lives. Afterwards, using these tools in practice, we will try to analyze social protection policy and its institutions, focusing on retirement systems and their reforms.

Literature

• Bonoli G., T. Shinkawa (2005), Ageing and Pension Reform Around the World, Edward Elgar Publishing
• Bowles S. (2004), Microeconomics: Behavior, institutions, and evolution, Princeton University Press
• Goodin R.E. (1996), The Theory of Institutional Design, Cambridge University Press
• Gruber J., D.A. Wise (1999), Social Security and Retirement around the World, NBER, The University of Chicago Press