Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduce... more Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes. The field of economic sociology can be separated into the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumption. The sociology of markets views markets as socially constructed arenas where repeated exchanges occur between buyers and sellers under a set of formal and informal rules governing relations between competitors, suppliers, and customers. Markets are dependent on governments, laws, and cultural understandings that support market activity. There are four bodies of work that provide different views on the mechanisms by which markets are organized: networks, institutions, political economy, and the study of market devices and the performativity of economic ideas. The sociology of consumption situates consumption in the problem of what consuming things means to people. One core idea is that consumption is about how people constitute their lifestyles. Lifestyles can be constructed in emulation of other groups or instead by competition between social groups for status. Another aspect of consumption is how morals and meanings affect what goods can be bought and sold. Scholars have explored why some products can and cannot be commoditized and how that has evolved over time.
How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets... more How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets? Drawing on interviews, direct observation, and the analysis of 2,497 press releases, I show how pro-cannabis activists used distinct framing strategies at different stages of institutional development to negotiate the moral boundaries surrounding medical cannabis, diluting the market’s stigma in the process. Social movement organizations first established a moral (and legal) foothold for the market by framing cannabis as a palliative for the dying, respecting moral boundaries blocking widespread exchange. As market institutions emerged, activists extended this frame to include less serious conditions, making these boundaries permeable.
Research on financialization has been constrained by limited suitable measures for cases outside ... more Research on financialization has been constrained by limited suitable measures for cases outside of the for-profit sector. Using the case of US higher education, we consider financialization as both increasing reliance on financial investment returns and increasing costs from transactions to acquire capital. We document returns and costs across four types of transactions: (i) revenues from endowment investments, (ii) interest payments on institutional borrowing by colleges, (iii) profits extracted by investors in for-profit colleges and (iv) interest payments on student loan borrowing by households. Estimated annual funding from endowment investments grew from $16 billion in 2003 to $20 billion in 2012. Meanwhile financing costs grew from $21 billion in 2003 to $48 billion in 2012, or from 5 to 9% of the total higher education spending, even as interest rates declined. Increases in financial returns, however, were concentrated at wealthy colleges whereas increases in financing costs tended to outpace returns at poorer institutions. We discuss the implications of the findings for resource allocation, organizational governance and stratification among colleges and households.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduce... more Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes. The field of economic sociology can be separated into the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumption. The sociology of markets views markets as socially constructed arenas where repeated exchanges occur between buyers and sellers under a set of formal and informal rules governing relations between competitors, suppliers, and customers. Markets are dependent on governments, laws, and cultural understandings that support market activity. There are four bodies of work that provide different views on the mechanisms by which markets are organized: networks, institutions, political economy, and the study of market devices and the performativity of economic ideas. The sociology of consumption situates consumption in the problem of what consuming things means to people. One core idea is that consumption is about how people constitute their lifestyles. Lifestyles can be constructed in emulation of other groups or instead by competition between social groups for status. Another aspect of consumption is how morals and meanings affect what goods can be bought and sold. Scholars have explored why some products can and cannot be commoditized and how that has evolved over time.
Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduce... more Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes. The field of economic sociology can be separated into the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumption. The sociology of markets views markets as socially constructed arenas where repeated exchanges occur between buyers and sellers under a set of formal and informal rules governing relations between competitors, suppliers, and customers. Markets are dependent on governments, laws, and cultural understandings that support market activity. There are four bodies of work that provide different views on the mechanisms by which markets are organized: networks, institutions, political economy, and the study of market devices and the performativity of economic ideas. The sociology of consumption situates consumption in the problem of what consuming things means to people. One core idea is that consumption is about how people constitute their lifestyles. Lifestyles can be constructed in emulation of other groups or instead by competition between social groups for status. Another aspect of consumption is how morals and meanings affect what goods can be bought and sold. Scholars have explored why some products can and cannot be commoditized and how that has evolved over time.
How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets... more How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets? Drawing on interviews, direct observation, and the analysis of 2,497 press releases, I show how pro-cannabis activists used distinct framing strategies at different stages of institutional development to negotiate the moral boundaries surrounding medical cannabis, diluting the market’s stigma in the process. Social movement organizations first established a moral (and legal) foothold for the market by framing cannabis as a palliative for the dying, respecting moral boundaries blocking widespread exchange. As market institutions emerged, activists extended this frame to include less serious conditions, making these boundaries permeable.
Research on financialization has been constrained by limited suitable measures for cases outside ... more Research on financialization has been constrained by limited suitable measures for cases outside of the for-profit sector. Using the case of US higher education, we consider financialization as both increasing reliance on financial investment returns and increasing costs from transactions to acquire capital. We document returns and costs across four types of transactions: (i) revenues from endowment investments, (ii) interest payments on institutional borrowing by colleges, (iii) profits extracted by investors in for-profit colleges and (iv) interest payments on student loan borrowing by households. Estimated annual funding from endowment investments grew from $16 billion in 2003 to $20 billion in 2012. Meanwhile financing costs grew from $21 billion in 2003 to $48 billion in 2012, or from 5 to 9% of the total higher education spending, even as interest rates declined. Increases in financial returns, however, were concentrated at wealthy colleges whereas increases in financing costs tended to outpace returns at poorer institutions. We discuss the implications of the findings for resource allocation, organizational governance and stratification among colleges and households.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduce... more Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes. The field of economic sociology can be separated into the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumption. The sociology of markets views markets as socially constructed arenas where repeated exchanges occur between buyers and sellers under a set of formal and informal rules governing relations between competitors, suppliers, and customers. Markets are dependent on governments, laws, and cultural understandings that support market activity. There are four bodies of work that provide different views on the mechanisms by which markets are organized: networks, institutions, political economy, and the study of market devices and the performativity of economic ideas. The sociology of consumption situates consumption in the problem of what consuming things means to people. One core idea is that consumption is about how people constitute their lifestyles. Lifestyles can be constructed in emulation of other groups or instead by competition between social groups for status. Another aspect of consumption is how morals and meanings affect what goods can be bought and sold. Scholars have explored why some products can and cannot be commoditized and how that has evolved over time.
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