This article posits that institutionalized mythologies can create comparative production advantages. Myths shape collective identity, mobilize actors, and fundamentally reshape production dynamics. Myths are institutionalized in market rules, regulations and structures, leading to the reification of the myth. The myth functions as if it is true, not because it is true, but because it shapes the rules of production. Yet without the initial myth, specific production incentives—and even their institutional comparative advantages—would not exist. My theory integrates approaches from modernist historians (“imagined communities”) and economic sociologists (“imagined futures”) to explain how myths (“imagined histories”) shape contemporary market outcomes, using the example of the French wine market. This argument contributes to the historical institutionalist approach, which focuses on the historical power dynamics between competing groups and the present-day social and market consequence of their institutionalized solutions.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand why the quality markets are expanding in some areas of food production, while struggling in others. Across agricultural markets in advanced industrialized economies, there are movements toward quality production and consumption. The author argues that the quality turn in beer, coffee, wine and other transformed artisanal food production are fundamentally different from the quality movements in primary food products. The heart of that difference lies in the nature of the supply chain advantages of transformed versus primary agricultural products.Design/methodology/approachThe author applies convention theory to explain the dynamics within transformed agricultural quality markets. In these producer-dominant markets, networks of branded producers shape consumer notions of product quality, creating competitive quality feedback loops. The author contrasts this with the consumer-dominant markets for perishable foods such as produce, eggs, dairy and meat. Here, politically constructed short supply chains play a central role in building quality food systems.FindingsThe emergence of quality in primary food products is linked to the strength of local political organization, and consumers have a greater role in shaping quality in these markets.Originality/valueQuality beer, coffee, wine and other transformed products can emerge without active political intervention, whereas quality markets for perishable foods are the outcome of political action.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2020-0001.
This article considers how local conditions of any one place both impact and are impacted by the geo-political and economic conditions of the wider world. Using the microcosm of the French winegrape vineyard, I explore local-global dynamics in the production and dissemination of symbolic capital. Facing market instability during the 19th century, French producers re-invented familiar symbols to distinguish their cultural wealth of place, creating and recreating shifting hierarchies of insiders and outsiders. These conceptions of place were legitimatized and diffused through the help of global institutions. As these invented concepts of place, tradition, and singularity gained dominance and broad global adoption, French producers sought to re-invent a “historical” narrative and recast the vineyard as a site of singular nature and unique heritage.
This article examines public attitudes towards state ownership of industry and state measures to reduce income inequality. Relying upon the 2016/17 AmericasBarometer, our analysis finds that trust in institutions and education are the main determinants of support for different types of state intervention in the economy. Additionally, ideology and presidential approval matter when leaders frame their policies in ideological terms and a charismatic incumbent advocates state intervention.
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