Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: List of figures; List of tables; List of textboxes; Prologue; Part I. Historical and Methodological Reflections on Culture in Economics: 1. Defining culture; 2. How culture disappeared from economics; 3. Explaining the rise of culture in modern economics; 4. Culture in economics: contemporary theoretical perspectives; 5. A methodological perspective on culture in economics; Part II. Applications of Culture in Contemporary Economics: Introduction to Part II; 6. Entrepreneurial culture; 7. Trust; 8. International business; 9. Comparative corporate governance; Part III. Evaluation: 10. Discussion; References; Index.

Many economists now accept that informal institutions and culture play a crucial role in economic outcomes. Driven by the work of economists such as Nobel laureates Douglass North and Gary Becker, there is an important body of work that invokes cultural and institutional factors to build a more comprehensive and realistic theory of economic behavior. This book provides a comprehensive overview of research in this area, sketching the main promises and challenges faced by the field. The first part introduces and explains the various theoretical approaches to studying culture in economics, going back to Smith and Weber, and addresses the methodological issues that need to be considered when including culture in economics. The second part of the book then provides readers with a series of examples that shows how the cultural approach can be used to explain economic phenomena in four different areas: entrepreneurship, trust, international business and comparative corporate governance.