Social Embeddedness in the Iranian Bazar: Case Study of Handmade Carpets Bazar

Document Type : Research

Authors

• Somaye Varshovi ¹
• Ali Yousofi ²
• Ahmad Reza Asgharpour Masouleh ³
• Hossein Akbari ²

¹ PhD in Economic and Development Sociology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² Associate Professor in Sociology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

³ Assistant Professor in Sociology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/social.2021.57870.0

Abstract

 
Although the price is a determinant element of the exchange market and is primarily considered an economic variable, the basic idea of the present paper is that it is not only a result of supply and demand in the carpet bazar in Iran but also it is influenced by the structure of relationships between the actors. In other words, different types of social embededness are significant and the prices in this market are shaped by the structure of social relations between buyers and sellers. With the aim of identifying the social mechanisms of pricing using a qualitative approach and an ethnomethodology method, we studied 35 participants from carpet markets in the cities of Mashhad, Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. They were from different parts of the bazar including merchants, wholesalers, retailers, commissioners, and intermediaries. The analysis of the interviews showed that the formation of prices in the carpet bazar is influenced by the exposure of sellers to familiar and unfamiliar buyers, which leads to the emergence of two main types of arm’s-length price and embedded price. In arm’s-length prices, the seller's transactions with unfamiliar buyers include three types: cash, long-term and profitable. In the embedded price of which the transactions with familiar buyers are carried out, three types of prices are identifiable, including the obligatory, painful and mediatory prices. The results clearly showed that prices in the carpet market are not based solely on the economic calculations of the actors; in fact, these prices are embedded in social structures, and manyA social mechanisms are involved in the process of pricing carpets.

Keywords

• Price Formation
• Embeddedness
• Carpet Market
• Arm’s-Length Price
• Embedded Price

20.1001.1.20081383.1399.17.2.1.0

References

1. ادواردز، آ. (1368). قالی ایران (م. د. صبا، مترجم) (چاپ دوم). تهران: دوستداران کتاب.
2. استراس، آ.، و کوربین، ج. (1387). اصول روش تحقیق کیفی نظریۀ مبنایی رویه‌ها و شیوه‌­ها (ب. محمدی، مترجم). تهران: پژوهشکده علوم انسانی و مطالعات فرهنگی.
3. اسلیتر، د.، و تونکیس، ف. (1386). جامعه بازار (بازار و نظریۀ اجتماعی مدرن) (ح. قاضیان مترجم). تهران: نشر نی.
4. آذرپاد، ح.، و حشمتی ­رضوی، ف. ا. (1372). فرشنامۀ ایران. تهران: مؤسسۀ مطالعات و تحقیقات فرهنگی.
5. پولانی، ک. (1391). دگرگونی بزرگ خاستگاه‌­های سیاسی و اقتصادی روزگار ما (م. مالجو، مترجم). تهران: چاپ سپیدار.
6. سوئدبرگ، ر. (1391)، منفعت­‌طلبی و ساختار اجتماعی، مباحثی در جامعه­‌شناسی اقتصادی (ع. ا. سعیدی، مترجم). تهران: انتشارات لوح فکر.
7. فلیک، ا. (1388). درآمدی بر تحقیق کیفی (ه. جلیلی، مترجم). تهران: نشر نی.
8. کسلر، د. (1394). نظریه­‌های روز جامعه‌­شناسی از آیزنشتات تا پسامدرن­‌ها (ک. ا. راسخ، مترجم). تهران: نشر آگه.
9. لالمان، م. (1394). تاریخ اندیشه­‌های جامعه‌­شناسی (جلد دوم: از پارسونز تا اندیشمندان معاصر) (ع. نیک­گهر، مترجم). تهران: نشر هرمس.

 

10. Baker, W. (1984). The social structure of a national securities market. American Journal of Sociology, 89(4), 775-811.
11. Baker, W. (1992). Information networks and market behavior. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 16, 305-332.
12. Baker, W. E., & Iyer, A. V. (1991). Information networks and market behavior, Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 16(4), 305-332
13. Beckert, J. (2009). The social order of markets. Theory and Society, 38, 245–269.
14. Beckert, J. (2011). Where do prices come from? Sociological approaches to price formation. Socio-Economic Review, 9(4), 1-23.
15. Biggart, N. W., & Beamish, T. D. (2113). The economic sociology of conventions: Habit, custom, practice, routine in market order. Annual Reviews Sociology, 29, 443–444.
16. Bögenhold, D. (2013). Social network analysis and the sociology of economics: Filling a blind spot with the idea of social embeddedness. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 72(2), 293-318.
17. Calion, M. (1998). Introduction: The embeddedness of economic markets in economics. London: Blackwell Publishers.
18. Dacin, M. T, Ventresca, M. J., & Beal, B. D. (1999). The embeddedness of organizations: Dialogue & directions. Journal of Management, 25(3), 317-356.
19. De Lange, D. E. (2010). Power and influence, the embeddedness of nations. UNGA: Palgrave Macmillan
20. Dequech, D. (2003). Cognitive and cultural embeddedness: Combining institutional economics and economic sociology. Journal of Economic Issues, (2), 461-470.
21. Fligstein, N., & Dioun, C. (2015). Economic sociology. In: J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (2nd ed.) (pp. 67–72). Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier.
22. Floor, W. (2012).  Carpets xii. Pahlavi Period. Encyclopædia Iranica, IV(8), 883-890. Retrieved from http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/carpets-xii.
23. Fourcade, M. (2007). Theories of markets and theories of society. American Behavioral Scientist, 5(8), 1015-1034.
24. Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380.
25. Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness, American Journal of Sociology, 91(3),481-510.
26. Granovetter, M. (1992). Economic institutions as social constructions: A framework for analysis. Acta Sociologica, 35(1), 3-11.
27. Granovetter, M. (1996). The sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: The network effect. American Sociological Review, 61(4), 674-698.
28. Granovetter, M. (2005). The impact of social structure on economic outcomes. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(1), 33-50.
29. Jack, S. L., & Anderson, A. R. (2002). The effects of embeddedness on the entrepreneurial process. Journal of Business Venturing, 17, 467–487.
30. Kim, S., & Skvoretz, J. (2013). Structural embeddedness, uncertainty, and international trade. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 54(2), 124 –143.
31. Kotelnikova, Z. V. (2012). Structural embeddedness and contractual relationships of chain stores and their suppliers in russian emerging markets. Research Grant, 11, 1-35.
32. Krippner, G. R. (2001). The elusive market: Embeddedness and the paradigm ofeconomic sociology. Theory and Society, (30), 775-810.
33. Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. The Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.
34. Portes, A., Sensenbrenner, J. (1993). Embeddedness and immigration: Notes on the social determinants of economic action. American Journal of Sociology, 98, 1320-1350.
35. Rosenbaum, E. F. (2000). What is a market? On the methodology of a contested Concept. Review of Social Economy, (4), 455-482.
36. Shapiro, A. V. (2005). Should you bank on your network? Relational and positional embeddedness in the making of financial capital. Strategic Organization, 3(3), 279–309.
37. Storr, V. H. (2008). The market as a social space: On the meaningful extraeconomic conversations that can occur in markets. The Review of Austrian Economics, 21,135–150.
38. Swedberg, R. (1994). Markets as social structures. In See smelser and swedberg (pp. 255–282). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
39. Tamminen, S. E, & Saarinen, M. (2013). Relationship embeddedness in the construction industry : A case study of peab AB, Mälardalen University (Unpublished master´s thesis). The Academy of Business, Society and Engineering, Västerås and Eskilstuna, Sweden.
40. Uzzi, B. (1993). The dynamics of organizational networks: Structural embeddedness and economic behavioy (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). State University, Stony Brook.
41. Uzzi, B. (1997). Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: the paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 35-67.
42. Uzzi, B. (1999). Embeddedness in the making of financial capital: how social relations and networks benefit firms seeking finance. American Sociological Review, 64, 481-505.
43. Uzzi, B., & Lancaster, R. (2004). Embeddedness and price formation in the corporate law market. American Sociological Review, 69(3), 319-344.
44. Uzzi, B., Lancaster, R. (2004). Embeddedness and the price of legal services in the large law firm market. Forthcoming American Sociological Review, 69, 1-27.