The Palgrave handbook of comparative economics Chapter 1: Introduction to the Handbook of Comparative Economics Part 1: Evolution of the Field of Comparative Economics Systems Chapter 2: A Historiography of Comparative Economics Chapter 3: The Soviet Economic System: An Archival Re Evaluation Chapter 4: Institutions Institutional Systems and their Dynamics Chapter 5: The “New Comparative Economics” – a Critical Review Part 2: Comparative Economic Systems in Economic History Chapter 6: Comparative Economic History Chapter 7: The World’s First Meritocracy through the Lens of Institutions and Cultural Persistence Chapter 8: Institutions Matter – but so does History: A Comparison of Mediaeval Dubrovnik with other Dalmatian Cities Chapter 9: Long run inequality in Communist Countries: Before During After Chapter 10: Effect of Historical Forces on liberalisation and democratisation in Transition Part 3: Post Communist Transition Chapter 11: Thirty Years of Transition: Eleven Stylised Facts Chapter 12: The Importance of Domestic Commitment Chapter 13: Political Economy of Transition Reforms Chapter 14: The EU Anchor Thesis: Transition from Socialism Institutional Vacuum and Membership in the European Union Chapter 15: Some Reflections on Transition: its Roots its Complexity of the process and Role of the IMF and other Organizations Chapter 16: Are the Transition Economies still in Transition Chapter 17: Institutional Change in Transition: An Evolving Research Agenda. Part 4: New Comparative Economics: Growth and formal institutions in a globalised world Chapter 18: Institutions Human Capital and Economic Growth Chapter 19: Reform Design Matters: the Role of Structural Policies Complementarities Chapter 20: Democracy as a Driver of Post Communist Economic Development Chapter 21: Economic Development Transition and New Structural Economics Part 5: The “new” New Comparative Economics: broadening the goals Chapter 22: Rethinking Development: Broadening the Goals and Altering the Approach Chapter 23: Explaining the Heterogeneity of Health Outcomes in Post Communist Europe Chapter 24: Building the Good Life: Growth Reforms and Happiness in Transition Chapter 25: Growth and Subjective Wellbeing in China Chapter 26: Understanding Demographic Challenges of Transition through the China Lens Part 6: Addressing new issues by comparative analysis Chapter 27: Inequality and Wellbeing in Transition: linking experience and perception to policy preferences Chapter 28: Authoritarian Populism in Comparative Perspective Chapter 29: Does Emigration affect Political and Institutional Development in Migrants’ Countries of Origin Chapter 30: Understanding Tax Evasion: Combining the Public Choice and new Institutionalist Perspectives Chapter 31: The Rules of the Game in Transition: how Informal Institutions work in South East Europe Chapter 32: Entrepreneurship in Comparative Economics Perspective Part 7: Methodologies for comparative analysis Chapter 33: Taxonomies and Typologies: starting to Reframe Economic Systems Chapter 34: Institutional Complementarities in Comparative Capitalism: a Bibliometric Account Chapter 35: The Challenge of Identification and the Value of Descriptive Evidence Chapter 36: Conclusion: So what is the new Comparative Economics now. . This book aims to define comparative economics and to illustrate the breadth and depth of its contribution. It starts with an historiography of the field arguing for a continued legacy of comparative economic systems which compared socialism and capitalism a field which some argued should have been replaced by institutional economics after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The process of transition to market capitalism is reviewed and itself exemplifies a new combination of comparative analysis with a focus on institutional development. Going beyond chapters broadening the application of comparative analysis and applying it to new issues and approaches including the role and definition of institutions subjective wellbeing inequality populism demography and novel methodologies. Overall comparative economics has evolved in the past 30 years and remains a powerful approach for analyzing important issues.