Organizing and Reorganizing Markets

The difference between markets and organizations is often exaggerated. In this book empirical examples are used for describing and analyzing how markets are organized, and the similarities and differences between market organization and the organization of formal organizations.

Organizing and Reorganizing Markets brings organization theory to the study of markets. The difference between markets and organizations is often exaggerated. Organizing exists in addition to other processes and phenomena that form markets: the mutual adaption among sellers and buyers as described in mainstream economics, and the institutions described in institutional economics and economic sociology. Market organization can be analysed with the same type of theories used for analysing organization within formal organizations. Through the use of many empirical examples, the book demonstrates how this can be done.The authors argue that the way a certain market is organized can be understood as the (intermediate) result of previous organizing processes. Questions discussed include: ''What drives market organizing and reorganizing processes? What makes various organizations intervene as market organizers? And, how are the specific contents of market organization determined?'' The answers to these questions help to analyse similarities and differences among organizing processes in formal organizations and those in markets.Arguments are illustrated by in-depth studies of many types of markets. The book will open up markets as a field of study for scholars of organization.