This volume is designed as a contribution to the synthesis of theory ineconomics and sociology. We believe that the degree of separationbetween these two disciplines separation emphasized by intellectualtraditions and present institutional arrangements arbitrarily concealsa degree of intrinsic intimacy between them which must be brought tothe attention of the respective professional groups.

Talcott Parsons

Chapter 1 The Problem: Current Sociological Theory and Some Central Concepts of Economics; Chapter 2 The Economy As a Social System; Chapter 3 The Institutional Structure of the Economy; Chapter 4 Economic Processes Within the Social System; Chapter 5 The Problems of Growth and Institutional Change in the Economy; Chapter 6 Conclusion: Economic Theory and the General Theory of Social Systems;