This book celebrates the modern relevance of one of the founding fathers of development economics - Kurt Martin. His thought - drawn from the central conflict of the twentieth century between collective action and individual enterprise - has influenced a generation of scholars at one of Europe’s foremost development studies faculties, the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. In this tribute to Kurt Martin, leading world thinkers, including Richard Nelson, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Frances Stewart, and Ben Ndulu, discuss the role of social institutions in economic development. They are complemented by leading ISS faculty, all contributing to the debate that will define the policy research agenda well into the next decade. This is an essential text for economic scholars, postgraduate students, and development practitioners alike.