Meso-institutions: why we need them (introduction to the symposium on meso-institutions)
介绍了一个专题研讨会，该研讨会源于对现有制度理论的不满，旨在通过统一的理论框架识别和理解连接宏观与微观制度层面的中层制度安排。
Abstract This symposium grew out of dissatisfaction with the existing theories of institutions. Notwithstanding significant progress in the analysis of the macro-institutions through which systemic rules and norms are established and the micro-institutions through which actors decide and implement transactions within the playing field thus defined, researchers working along one or the other dimension faced a critical and largely unanswered question: how to bridge the gap between these two institutional layers? The selected articles assembled in this issue came out of efforts to identify and understand within a unified theoretical framework the arrangements through which these layers interact. Building on contributions in economics and other social sciences as well as from in-depth empirical studies, these articles explore the relevance of the concept of ‘meso-institutions’ to designate and characterize the devices (e.g. regulatory agencies) and mechanisms (e.g. guidelines) that connect the macro- and micro-institutional layers.