The Centre for Institutional and Organisation Studies researches the differential growth and development of societies across time and place. The aim is to understand how socially beneficial exchange is organised through legal, political, economic and social institutions and organisations.

The Centre studies the evolution and attributes of a society's institutions, which are the formal laws and regulations, and the informal mores, values systems and beliefs, which govern economic, political and social exchange. The formal laws and regulations encompass the criminal legal system, contract law, judicial decisions, the common law, and the enforcement of economic and political regulations. The informal institutions are trust-based and social value systems that encourage and protect exchange.

Organisations comprise business firms, unions, the judiciary, political parties, pressure groups, families, nongovernmental and not-for-profit bodies, religious groups, educational bodies and international bodies (UN, World Bank and IMF). Click here for more