While the evolution of informal institutions is quite well understood in economic thinking, the development of consciously designed institutions has not been rigorously explored. In the New Institutional Economics, Public Choice, and Law and Economics the dynamic interplay between changing preferences and spontaneously evolving institutions on the one hand and the evolution of designed institutions on the other hand has been largely ignored. Evolution and Design of Institutions assembles contributions by economists, legal scholars and psychologists in order to shed new light on these issues. The contributors analyze how designed norms influence preference behavior, examine the emergence and evolution of designed institutions and address normative approaches.