Conventions and Structures in Economic Organization: Markets, Networks and Organizations (New Horizons in Institutional and Evolutionary Economics Series) [Hardcover]

Olivier Favereau (Editor), Emmanuel Lazega (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1840645105 | ISBN-13: 978-1840645101 | Publication Date: January 2003

For individual actors in economic activities (ie. production, exchanges), conventions and structures represent two different types of opportunity or constraint. Conventions refer to values, rules and representations that influence economic behaviour. Structures refer to patterns of resource interdependencies existing among members of any social system. This book contributes to the current rapprochement between economics and sociology. It examines the fact that individuals use rules and interdependencies to forward their own interests, while living in social environments where everyone does the same. The authors argue that to construct durable organizations and viable markets, they need to be able to handle both. However, thus far, economists and sociologists have not been able to reconcile the relationship between these two types of constraints on economic activity. "Conventions and Structures in Economic Organization" seeks to bridge this gap and should appeal to students and scholars in both economics and sociology, offering them new ideas about how they can cooperate in unsuspected ways to combine their interdisciplinary efforts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Olivier Favereau, Professor of Economics, University of Paris Nanterre, France and Emmanuel Lazega, Professor of Sociology, University of Lille I, France

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840645105
• ISBN-13: 978-1840645101
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,312,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)