Institute of Development Studies

White, G - 17-Aug-93
16 pages
Price £ 0.00
IDS Bulletin 24.3

The author argues that conventional economics ignores or marginalises the role of power and politics which are crucial factors in conditioning the variable structure and performance of markets. Using a power-based notion of politics and drawing on evidence from a wide range of different markets, he identifies markets politics as a complex process involving four different types of power, which he labels π1 to π4: the politics of state involvement involving state power (π1); the politics of market organisation involving internal associational power (π2); the politics of market structure involving economic power (π3); and the politics of social ‘embeddedness’ involving various forms of social/cultural/ideological power (π4). He argues that a clearer understanding of the complexities of market politics is of practical importance for policy relevant research and prescription.