Is Friendship Consistent with Competitive Market Exchange?

Abstract

A conventional assumption within sociology of markets is that social ties are crucial in economic life, but that too strong relationships between sellers and buyers can create role conflicts and restrict business. Using qualitative interviews with Norwegian exporters and Danish importers, this article examines transactions in the international fish trade. We find that the assumed episodic and highly competitive commodity trade is rooted in dyadic networks and personal trust; inspired by the work of Goffman, we analyse transaction patterns as 'interaction order'. The transaction pattern is dependent on a particular organization of social interaction, interaction in which business dealings are divided into delimited spheres of the 'formal', 'personal' and 'private'. This division reflects a differentiation of the social roles, one in which traders avoid the role conflicts inherent in close relationships. We conclude by stating that economic sociology should probably be less preoccupied with formal network configurations and instead be focused more on how actors actually use social ties in the marketplace to conduct business, and on how these ties are linked to price mechanisms.

Small-scale fisheries and agricultural trade networks are socially embedded: emerging hypotheses about responses to environmental changes

“…We found that trade can be described as socially embedded across case studies, whereby relational embeddedness often relies on stable business relationships that imply reciprocal commitments. This result highlights the importance of considering the social factors that influence food trade beyond economic motivations alone (Dulsrud andGrønhaug 2007, Stoll et al 2020). However, we also found that different types of social relationships can coexist within such complex trade networks that span spatial scales, connecting small-scale producers to local and global markets.…”

“…This result is in line with literature highlighting the role of embeddedness for innovation, learning, or problem-solving (e.g., Uzzi 1996, Charterina et al 2016). However, the maintenance of certain embedded relationships and dense social structures, often linked to the concept of over-embeddedness (Uzzi 1996), can also be associated with negative outcomes (Fafchamps and Minten 2002, Dulsrud and Grønhaug 2007, Turgo 2016. For instance, they could promote coping strategies that enable short-term responses but could threaten the long-term capacity to deal with changes, such as credits used as a response to changes in relationships between small-scale fishers and traders (Ferse et al 2014, Drury O'Neill et al 2019.…”

“…In small-scale food systems (SSFS), these arrangements often go beyond trading food products in that they comprise multiple types of exchange such as the provision of services, production inputs, and loans (Basurto et al 2020, Liverpool-Tasie et al 2020). In addition, multiple studies suggest that trading in food systems can be embedded in multiple types of social relationships such as trust and reciprocity (e.g., Hinrichs 2000, Penker 2006, Dulsrud and Grønhaug 2007, Turgo 2016). Thus, previous findings suggest that socially embedded trade networks reach across spatial scales and connect smallholders to diverse commercial actors and markets.…”

Small exporting firms’ choice of exchange mode in international marketing channels for perishable products: A contingency approach

“…Processing level and product type add to the market complexity. Shelf life/product perishability is another important consideration in the global seafood business because it represents a precondition for international market choice and marketing channel decisions (for a detailed discussion around these issues, see Dulsrud and Grønhaug (2007), Ottesen and Grønhaug (2003), Tuu and Olsen (2013)).…”

“…The importance of the personal relations between a seller and a buyer has been further addressed by Dulsrud and Grønhaug (2007), who refer to social events as "important bricks in market-building processes." Social arrangements and familiarity can be found in episodic transactional relations.…”