Editorial: “Good and bad” institutions. The Issue of Institutional Quality in the Social Sciences

Debate: The Quality of Institutions. An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.70

Keywords:

Institutions, Institutional quality, Organisations, Economic development, Law, Economics, Sociology, Politics

Abstract

This article outlines some of the fundamental theoretical issues of research on institutional quality. It is part of the Debate section of the CENTRA Journal of Social Sciences, where the focus is on contrasting the perspectives of various social science disciplines surrounding this issue. Institutional quality is defined as the set of characteristics of institutions (cultural, regulatory and organisational) that influence their functioning and that condition the fulfillment of the missions for which they have been created. The first part of the article clarifies the terminology regarding the relevance of concepts within the study of institutions. The conceptual frameworks commonly used in Economics, Sociology, Political Science and Administration are then specified. The conclusion summarises the contributions of the articles included in the Debate section regarding institutional quality.

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Author Biography

Manuel Fernandez Esquinas, Institute for Advanced Social Studies, CSIC, Spain

Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Social Studies (IESA). He holds a PhD in Sociology and Political Science from the Complutense University of Madrid. His research interests are related to the social processes of innovation in various aspects of R&D systems. He has directed projects on researcher training, science policy and evaluation, university-industry relations, socio-economic impact of R&D, business innovation and the behaviour of the population with respect to innovation. He is currently researching the quality of institutions in R&D systems, the social structures of innovation and the processes of knowledge transfer and utilisation.

References

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Published

2023-11-14

How to Cite

Fernández Esquinas, M. (2023). Editorial: “Good and bad” institutions. The Issue of Institutional Quality in the Social Sciences : Debate: The Quality of Institutions. An Interdisciplinary Perspective. CENTRA Journal of Social Sciences, 2(2), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.70