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What is a Market? On the Methodology of a Contested Concept

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  • Eckehard Rosenbaum

Abstract

Some economists find markets everywhere and assume that they emerge spontaneously once a set of necessary conditions such as well-defined property rights is fulfilled. Others emphasise the role of organisations and contend that markets are actually less dominant. But despite claims to the contrary, the market concept is hardly analyzed in depth. Nor are there serious attempts to examine empirically where markets exist. Against this background, the paper addresses the question of what is a market? It begins by illustrating how the literature has hitherto defined the concept of a market. On the basis of methodological considerations, which center on the subject matter of economic analysis, the paper provides a revised conceptualisation of markets in terms of those conditions under which stylised facts about relative prices can be observed. The final part of the paper discusses the link between the conceptualisation of a market and the informational role of relative prices highlighted by the Austrian School.

Suggested Citation

  • Eckehard Rosenbaum, 2000. "What is a Market? On the Methodology of a Contested Concept," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(4), pages 455-482.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:58:y:2000:i:4:p:455-482
    DOI: 10.1080/00346760050204300
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mirowski, Philip, 2007. "Markets come to bits: Evolution, computation and markomata in economic science," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 209-242, June.
    2. Sam Bliss, 2019. "The Case for Studying Non-Market Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-30, June.
    3. Kapás, Judit, 2003. "A piac mint intézmény - szélesebb perspektívában [The market as an institution - in a broader perspective]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1076-1094.
    4. Stefan Bernhard, 2016. "At the Crossroads: The Embedding Work of Market Participants in and around Markets," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(2), pages 51-66, May.
    5. Christopher Pryor & Shaker A. Zahra & Garry D. Bruton, 2023. "Trusting without a Safety Net: The Peril of Trust in Base of the Pyramid Economies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 767-799, June.
    6. Peter Maskell & Mark Lorenzen, 2004. "The Cluster as Market Organisation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(5-6), pages 991-1009, May.
    7. William A. Jackson, 2013. "The desocialising of economic theory," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(9), pages 809-825, July.
    8. John Marangos, 2011. "Social Change versus Transition: The Political Economy of Institutions and Transitional Economies," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 40(1), pages 119-137, April.
    9. W A Jackson, 2015. "Markets and the Meaning of Flexibility," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 20(2), pages 45-65, September.
    10. Peter Maskell & Mark Lorenzen, 2003. "The Cluster as Market Organization," DRUID Working Papers 03-14, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    11. Jackson, William A., 2024. "Markets as Dualistic, Semi-Decentralized Organizations," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 153-172.
    12. Vikas Kumar, 2016. "Economics, an Uncertain Glory," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 321-332, December.
    13. Paul Koster, 2023. "Counting what counts: Moral considerations and market surplus," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 23-008/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Dolfsma, W.A. & Finch, J. & McMaster, R., 2004. "Market and Society: How do they relate, and contribute to welfare?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-105-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    15. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2013. "Government Failure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15372.
    16. Alain Karsenty & Driss Ezzine-De-Blas, 2016. "PES, markets and property rights: a comment on Wunder's revisited concept of PES and a proposal of conceptual framework," Working Papers hal-01262380, HAL.
    17. Vaissière, Anne-Charlotte & Levrel, Harold, 2015. "Biodiversity offset markets: What are they really? An empirical approach to wetland mitigation banking," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 81-88.
    18. Thomas Burr, 2014. "Making Distribution Markets: Market-Wide Institutions in French and American Bicycle Distribution, 1865–1914," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 178-209, January.
    19. Raes, Leander & Loft, Lasse & Le Coq, Jean François & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido & Van Damme, Patrick, 2016. "Towards market- or command-based governance? The evolution of payments for environmental service schemes in Andean and Mesoamerican countries," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 20-32.
    20. Mathieu Moslonka-Lefebvre & Herv'e Monod & Christopher A. Gilligan & Elisabeta Vergu & Jo~ao A. N. Filipe, 2013. "Epidemics in markets with trade friction and imperfect transactions," Papers 1310.6320, arXiv.org.

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