大国崛起与制度变迁：几个问题

最近的《大国崛起》和自己的贫困论文，引发了对制度的许多联想。

一、该如何定义制度？
Ranis (1989) says “institutions define how people inhabiting a certain land space and having command over given resources decide to organize themselves for economic activity.” Others see institutions as “a set of structures, lasting patterns of behaviors and relationship (roles) that are guided and supported by broad societal values, regulated by certain norms of conduct (rules) and made operational by organizations” (Dia, 1996). Masahiko Aoki (2001) proposes a game-theory view, whereby institutions can be categorized as players (the state, judicial courts, associations, and the like), as rules (laws and regulations), or as the equilibrium of the game. North (1991) defines institutions as the “humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic, and social interaction.” Institutions have also been defined to refer to “rules, enforcement mechanism, and organizations” (World Bank, 2002), which is then expanded by T.N.Srinivasan (2004). “…one of the most important institutions, namely, (is) the market. Two other institutions affect the prospects of all agents in the economy: institutions of governance (that is, governments at all levels in each nation as well as multilateral intergovernmental institutions and legal system) and nongovernmental (so-called civil society) institutions.”

我个人比较倾向于世界银行（2002）和T.N.Srinivasan (2004) 的定义。那么，除了以上定义，是不是还有其他更好的呢？

二、制度到底有什么特征？
当我们都说制度重要，制度对经济个体有激励作用的时候，我们是否应该想想制度这些重要性从何而来，将向何处去？我觉得这个问题对于制度经济学来说应该是比较核心的问题。当然，我暂时肯定不能给出完美的答案，只是提供一些想法。
我个人以为，对制度基本特征的研究应该回归到对人的研究，制度本质上是人及其关系的总和，人性必然决定了制度的特性，前者应该是第一位的，后者是第二位的。


三、大国崛起：制度视角的思考
《大国崛起》中，其对每个国家的考察非常强调制度的作用，尤其体现在制度创新。为什么制度创新好？我想这个问题还是绕不开前边的问题。本人还在思考中，希望大家发表意见。