Institutions
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- One way to solve a coordination problem is to have an institution.
"Institution" is simply a fancy name used in social science for a
set of rules that everybody follows.
- Institutions may have formal rules, that can be written down.
Such institutions are often called mechanisms. (Other words
sometimes used are "device" or "contrivance".)
- The rules may be informal, and ambiguous or hard to write down.
In this case the institution is often called a custom.
Jinmyaku (guangxi) might be considered an informal
institution.
- Netiquette is an institution that falls somewhere in between.
There are many sites that explain netiquette, and they are
generally pretty similar. However, not everybody follows all of
the rules of netiquette, not even the ones that are generally
observed in their communities.
- A related use of the term "institution" refers to certain
organizations. These organizations play a certain coordinating role
in society. For example, "Todai" might be called an institution in
this sense because of the importance of the jinmyaku of Todai
graduates in Japanese politics and at the top of both industry and
the bureaucracy.
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