New Institutional Economics and Three Schools of Political Neo-Institutionalism

New institutional economics criticized the new-classical theories as being too abstract,but it was unable to solve the realistic,historical and social problems in studies of institution neither.Meanwhile,the school of neo-institutionalism arised in the area of political studies characterized by its rational-choice institutionalism,historical institutionalism,and sociological institutionalism.This paper intends to analyze the three new schools from the perspectives of the conception of institution,the influence of institution on behaviors,institutional change theory,and the position of history,social background and culture in studies of institution.The author maintains that the rise of political neo-institutionalism might be beneficial to new institutional economics out of the dilemma and be meaningful to the development of new institutional economics in China.