Why durability matters? Towards a Comparative Economic Sociology of Market Organization

Bibliographic Data

ID4180883
AuthorsAlexander Dobeson (0000-0002-6352-3592, Uppsala University), Sebastian Kohl (0000-0002-8358-6021, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies)
Year2020
Volume61
Issue1
Pages33-64
Publication date2020-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-9756 • E-ISSN: 1474-0583
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003975620000028
OpenAlexW3017135474
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited75

What can a good's durability tell us about its market organization? This paper argues that the socially expected durability of goods is one of their most important features. It illuminates temporal and material aspects of market organization and social change across different markets. While recent literature in the sociology of markets tends to emphasize financial goods, intangible assets, and the service economy, markets for material durable and nondurable consumer goods are still surprisingly pervasive in everyday life and in the household economy, as well as in modern economies' basic infrastructure. Based on a comparison of the extreme cases of durable housing and fresh fish markets, we come to the general finding that the higher a good's expected durability, the smaller the share of its new production will be and the larger its aftermarkets. Furthermore, it will be more tightly linked to credit and insurance markets, and its market will be more volatile in the short-term, but more inert in the long-term. Beyond this static distinction, we show how socio-technical mechanisms can "durabilize" or "dedurabilize" goods and hence change their market form. By comparing markets along the durability dimension, this paper contributes to a comparative sociology of market organization that goes beyond single-market studies, while at the same time opening up space for a more dynamic understanding of social change and market segmentation over time

Business · Dimension (graph theory) · Durability · Durable good · Economics · Economy · Factor market · Industrial organization · Market economy · Microeconomics · Production (economics) · Service (business) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Management and Organizational Studies · Political Economy and Marxism

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