Abstract
This study applies concepts from Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action to the problem of identifying the circumstances under which networks replace markets as the primary governance mechanism for economic activities. The suggestion derived from this theory is that markets govern economic activities tied to material phenomena; whereas networks control such activities when they are tied to social relationships. This suggestion is subjected to an empirical test. Labor transactions in the Lake Victoria fishing industry are used to test the hypothesis that risk factors arising from natural contingencies will distribute according to a risk market model, whereas those arising from social relationships will be distributed through a logic of social power tied to networks and identities. The hypothesis is generally supported by data on the effects of kinship and, more strongly, ethnicity.
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Wilson, D.C. Markets, Networks, and Risk: An Analysis of Labor Remuneration in the Lake Victoria Fishing Industry. Sociological Forum 13, 425–456 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022127424920
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022127424920