In this article I develop a proposal for the theoretical vantage point of the sociology of markets, focusing on the problem of the social order of markets. The initial premise is that markets are highly demanding arenas of social interaction, which can only operate if three inevitable...

The internationalization of postsocialist countries brought about by the activities of multinational corporations (MNCs) has produced a growing diversity of actors capable of shaping work standards in these countries. The organizational and institutionalist literature on MNCs has concentrated...

Was ist Wirtschaftssoziologie? Die Frage nach Identität dieser soziologischen Teildisziplin ist immer wieder Gegenstand konzeptioneller Ausführungen. In diesem Artikel wählen wir einen anderen Ansatz, indem wir die Beschäftigung der Soziologie mit dem Thema Wirtschaft empirisch untersuchen....

Following up on recent debates about sectoral systems of innovation and production, the paper introduces a heuristic framework for analyzing and explaining distinct patterns of technology-based sectoral change. The concept is based on two main interrelated influencing factors. The first is the...

I argue that in its adaptation from Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation, the concept of embeddedness has itself undergone a great transformation. In the process, significant meanings of the concept have vanished, while others have been added. First I explore the different meanings the...

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the making of markets. The paper identifies two ideal-typical processes in which markets are made - organized making and spontaneous making - which are often combined in reality. Organized making is defined as a process in which at least two actors come...

The paper presents some of the ideas underlying the current research program of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It begins with a discussion of how the institute's programmatic orientation has evolved since it was founded in 1984. Programmatic change over the years...

Modern societies regard knowledge as a production factor in its own right. The market is the prevailing governance mode of their economies, and it is supposed to be the most appropriate mode of trading and allocating knowledge assets, too. But socio-economic research has revealed that knowledge...

Das Diskussionspapier fasst die Ergebnisse eines Workshops zusammen, der den Prozess des Institutionenwandels in Ostasien zum Gegenstand hatte. Insbesondere geht es um das Zusammenspiel zwischen Bildungssystem und Arbeitsmärkten auf der einen und informellen Institutionen auf der anderen Seite....