Showing papers on "Embeddedness published in 1997"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop one of perhaps multiple specifications of embeddedness, a concept that has been used to refer broadly to the contingent nature of economic action with respect to cognition, social structure, institutions, and culture.
Abstract: This chapter aims to develop one of perhaps multiple specifications of embeddedness, a concept that has been used to refer broadly to the contingent nature of economic action with respect to cognition, social structure, institutions, and culture. Research on embeddedness is an exciting area in sociology and economics because it advances understanding of how social structure affects economic life. The chapter addresses propositions about the operation and outcomes of interfirm networks that are guided implicitly by ceteris paribus assumptions. While economies of time due to embeddedness have obvious benefits for the individual firm, they also have important implications for allocative efficiency and the determination of prices. Under the conditions, social processes that increase integration combine with resource dependency problems to increase the vulnerability of networked organizations. The level of investment in an economy promotes positive changes in productivity, standards of living, mobility, and wealth generation.
9,137 citations
TL;DR: Boyer and Boyer as discussed by the authors discuss how and why social systems of production change and the role of institutions in the evolution of these systems. But their focus is on the economic actors and social actors and not on the institutions themselves.
Abstract: Part I: 1. Coordination of economic actors and social systems of production Rogers Hollingsworth and Robert Boyer Part II: Introduction: the variety of institutional arrangements and their complementarity in modern economics Rogers Hollingsworth and Robert Boyer 2. The variety and unequal performance of markets Robert Boyer 3. A typology of cooperative interorganizational relationships and networks Jerald Hage and Catherine Alter 4. Weathering the storm: associational governance in a globalizing era William Coleman 5. Constitutional orders: trust building and response to change Charles F. Sabel Part III: Introduction: how and why do social systems of production change? Robert Boyer and Rogers Hollingsworth 6. Beneficial constraints: on the economic limits of rational voluntarism Wolfgang Streeck 7. Flexible specialization: theory and evidence in the analysis of industrial change 8. Globalization, variety and mass production: the metamorphosis of mass production in the new competitive age Benjamin Coriat 9. Continuities and changes in social systems of production: the cases of Japan, Germany, and the United States Rogers Hollingsworth Part IV: Introduction: levels of spatial coordination and the embeddedness of institutions Philippe Schmitter 10. Perspectives on globalization and economic coordination Wyn Grant 11. Globalization in question: international economic relations and forms of public governance Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson 12. The formation of international regimes in the absence of a Hegemon: clubs are trump Lorraine Eden and Fen Osler Hampson 13. The emerging Euro-polity and its impact upon national systems of production Philippe Schmitter Part V: Conclusion: from national embeddness to spatial and institutional nestedness Robert Boyer and Rogers Hollingsworth.
1,059 citations
Book•
07 Feb 1997TL;DR: This article provided a theoretical and empirical overview of why people protest, including grievances, efficacy, identification, emotions and social embeddedness, followed by the most recent approaches, which combine these concepts into dual pathway models.
Abstract: Social psychological research has taught us a lot about why people protest. This article provides a theoretical and empirical overview. Discussed are grievances, efficacy, identification, emotions and social embeddedness, followed by the most recent approaches, which combine these concepts into dual pathway models. Finally, two future directions are discussed: (1) to shed light on the paradox of persistent participation, and (2) to clarify how perceptions of sociopolitical context affects protest participation.
1,021 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that communities and counties with more ESI are more likely to have successfully implemented a recent economic development project than localities lacking in ESI, based upon a national random sample of nonmetropolitan places and counties.
Abstract: A community embeddedness perspective hypothesizes that nonmetropolitan localities high on entrepreneurial social infrastructure (ESI) are more successful at implementing economic development projects than those lacking ESI. ESI is a format for converting social capital into organizational forms that facilitate collective action. Logistic regres- sion revealed that localities with projects were more likely to have an unbiased news- paper, multiple contributions by financial institutions to community projects, and more external linkages. Project communities place more emphasis on citizen involvement through civic organizations than through local government. Community-based patterns of interactions and organization are associated with successful collective economic development action. Building on ideas about community embeddedness and collective action, this article addresses the relationship between entrepreneurial social infrastructure (ESI) and eco- nomic development. The central hypothesis is that communities and counties with more ESI are more likely to have successfully implemented a recent economic development project than localities lacking in ESI. The analysis is based upon a national random sample of nonmetropolitan places and counties. The concept of entrepreneurial social infrastructure was developed by the senior researchers' in order to better understand why some communities remain economically vital while others do not. Location factors (John Batie, and Norris 1988) and theories of leadership have not provided adequate explanations of community vitality. For instance, one careful evaluation of leadership training programs in Montana and Pennsylvania, using a quasi-experimental design, showed an increase in organizational membership and leadership roles for program graduates compared to a matched sample of nonparticipants in such programs (Cook, Howell, and Weir 1985). However, we found no studies that
278 citations
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TL;DR: A survey of sociological approaches to the study of markets can be found in this article, where the authors delineate the wide range of theoretical schools in economics, economic anthropology, cultural sociology, the embeddedness approach, and the new political economy.
Abstract: This paper surveys sociological approaches to the study of markets. Afte considering the economic approach, I delineate the wide range of theoretical schools, including alternative schools in economics, economic anthropology, cultural sociology, the embeddedness approach, and the new political economy. I also briefly discuss recent debates on the transition from planned economy to market and on globalization. I conclude by noting the difficulties of theorizing about the historical and institutional complexity of markets.
244 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess what has been accomplished since the mid-1980s in what has become known as "New Economic Sociology" and make a critique of the two main theoretical concepts in New economic Sociology: embeddedness and the social construction of the economy.
Abstract: An attempt is made in this article to assess what has been accomplished since the mid-1980s in what has become known as 'New Economic Sociology'. The reason for choosing 1985 as the point of departure has to do with the fact that this year saw the publication of what was to become the 'manifesto' of this type of sociology: Mark Granovetter's 'Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness'. Research during the period after the mid-1980s is presented and discussed, and it is argued that New Economic Sociology has especially drawn on three strands of sociology: networks theory, cultural sociology and organizational sociology. A critique is made of the two main theoretical concepts in New Economic Sociology: 'embeddedness' and 'the social construction (of the economy)'. The paper concludes with a critique of New Economic Sociology and a brief statement of its prospects.
212 citations
01 Mar 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors cast severe doubts about the omnipotence and exclusivity of market mechanisms in capitalist systems and present alternative and often complementary coordinating mechanisms: hierarchies, networks, associations, and states.
Abstract: CAPITALISM, HISTORY, AND THE RISE OF MARKET: STILL THE PARADOX OF POLANYI For many social scientists, the capitalist system is defined primarily as a market economy. This assumes that the rise, diffusion, and maturation of market mechanisms are the key features in periodizing the history of modern economies (Attali, 1981; Braudel, 1979). Ideally, a complete marketization of economic and social life would fulfill the ideal of modernity. The previous chapters cast severe doubts about the omnipotence and exclusivity of market mechanisms in capitalist systems . In fact, this vision is severely challenged by many recent advances in various areas of the social sciences. First, it is not true that those historical moments that have been the most market oriented have been the most successful ones in providing growth and stability in the history of capitalist societies (Sabel and Zeitlin, 1985). Second, some of the most competitive firms, regions, and nations are based on mechanisms of economic coordination that are totally different from pure market mechanisms (Gerlach, 1992; Hamilton and Biggart, 1988). Third, from a theoretical standpoint, markets are only one among various alternative and often complementary coordinating mechanisms: hierarchies, networks, associations, and states have frequently been important mechanisms for coordinating actors in capitalist societies when adequately designed and blended (Campbell, Hollingsworth, and Lindberg, 1991; Hollingsworth, Schmitter, and Streeck, 1994). Fourth, the transition to market economies in eastern European countries is beginning to provide clear insights about the necessary embeddedness of a market logic within a whole set of values, legal frameworks, and nonmarket institutions.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Hong Kong transnational corporations operate in the ASEAN region, and the organizational processes of transnationalization are accomplished through networks of personal and business relationships, where political connections at the highest level enable Hong Kong entrepreneurs and business firms to tap into extrafirm networks and to penetrate local markets in Southeast Asia.
Abstract: In recent years, the question of how business firms are embedded in society and space has received serious attention in economic geography. Arising from empirical research into the transnational operations of Hong Kong–based firms in Southeast Asia, this paper is concerned with the organizational processes of transnationalization—that is, how transnational operations are accomplished through networks of personal and business relationships. A network perspective specifies that three dimensions of transnational organizations—extrafirm, interfirm, and intrafirm networks—must be addressed simultaneously. Based on personal interviews with top executives from 111 headquarters and 63 subsidiaries of Hong Kong transnational corporations operating in the ASEAN region, I argue that social and business networks are necessary mechanisms of transnationalization. Political connections at the highest level enable Hong Kong entrepreneurs and business firms to tap into extrafirm networks and to penetrate local markets in Southeast Asia. Business connections and personal relationships are cornerstones of interfirm transactional governance structures through which Hong Kong firms establish their ASEAN operations. At the intrafirm level, personal trust and experience are keys to coordination and control in transnational operations. By showing how these Hong Kong firms and their ASEAN operations are socially and culturally embedded in networks of relationships, this paper serves also as a critique of economistic arguments and transaction cost analysis commonly found in leading international business research.
156 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: Amin and Hausner as discussed by the authors discussed the nature of institutional change in the context of cross-border regional modes of growth and the nature and dynamics in East Asian cases, including the emergence of pathdependent mixed economies in Central Europe.
Abstract: Contents: Preface 1 Interactive Governance and Social Complexity (A Amin and J Hausner) 2 The Foundational Bearing of Complexity (R Delorme) 3 Cognitive Networks and Self-organization in a Complex Socio-economic Environment (M Orillard) 4 Collectivist versus Individualist Perspectives on the Institutional Transition Process - Some Methodological Remarks (J Lange-von Kulessa) 5 The Governance of Complexity and the Complexity of Governance: Preliminary Remarks on Some Problems and Limits of Economic Guidance (B Jessop) 6 The Nature of Institutional Change: Managing Rival Dependencies (R van Tulder and W Ruigrok) 7 'Time-Space Embeddedness' and 'Geo-governance' of Cross-border Regional Modes of Growth: Their Nature and Dynamics in East Asian Cases (N-L Sum) 8 Emergence of Path-dependent Mixed Economies in Central Europe (B Chavance and E Magnin) 9 From Patient to Active Agent: An Institutional Analysis of the Russian Border Town of Vyborg (R Kosonen) 10 Transitional Problems in the Russian Agriculture Sector: A Historical-institutiona Perspective (S Stahl) 11 The Globalization of European Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) (M Kluth and J Andersen) Index
146 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the development of Japanese production networks in Asia through three different periods and analyze four sets of objectives that have guided this reorganization of Japanese Asian production networks: a regionalization of procurement; the penetration of Asia's contested growth markets; attempts to harness the region's improved capabilities, and a shift to more decentralized governance structures.
Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the evolution of international production by Japanese electronics firms. In the first two parts, I trace the development of Japanese production networks in Asia through three different periods. Each of these periods reflects fundamentally different strategic rationales for engaging in Asian production activities and hence gives rise to very different incarnations of Japanese production networks. Part I deals with the period of domestic market orientation which lasted roughly until the early 1980s, and with the shift to export platform production which has gathered momentum especially after 1986. I show that Japanese production networks have started out with a loose, locally embedded structure during the period of domestic-oriented production. This dramatically changed, once the focus shifted to export platform production, which has led to the establishment of highly centralized governance structures and very limited local roots. A new stage is reached in this zig-zag movement during the early 1990s. Part II deals with recent developments since 1991, the year of the "bursting of the bubble economy" in Japan. The pendulum now swings back again toward decentralization and local embeddedness. I analyze four sets of objectives that have guided this reorganization of Japanese Asian production networks: a regionalization of procurement; the penetration of Asia's contested growth markets; attempts to harness the region's improved capabilities, and a shift to more decentralized governance structures. Some possible implications for local capability formation are discussed in Part III. I first describe the regional specialization that is now beginning to emerge for Japanese production networks in Asia, with particular reference to the role of China. I conclude with a brief discussion of new opportunities and challenges that are likely to emerge for Taiwanese electronics firms.
145 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, structural embeddedness of a tie between two individuals is defined as the extent of overlap of social relations between those two individuals, and presumably reflects the degree of shared foci of activity that bring these individuals together with the same others.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the relationship between technological innovation and its institutional embeddedness within the theoretical framework of reflexive modernization and under the aspect of time in order to unterstand the actual frictions of innovation in Westem societies.
Abstract: The relationship between technological innovation and its institutional embeddedness is analysed within the theoretical framework of reflexive modernization and under the aspect of time in order to unterstand the actual frictions of innovation in Westem societies. The author hints to the paradox of innovation being at the same time creative and destructive, and argues that it is the particular embeddedness of innovative action that sets the tone and pace of technological change. The institutional split of technological development into science on the one hand and economy on the other has accelerated the speed of innovation in modernity, but at the same time has created new problems of synchronization between different times. It is illustrated that the up to now predominant modes of coordination, innovation via markets and innovation by organization, are losing ground not in spite of, but because of their success. A new type, innovation in the network, is emerging as a reaction to the shortcomings of its predecessors. Networks of innovation between heterogeneous actors are argued to become the basis of a post-Schumpeterian innovation regime.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that power is more likely to function as an alternative mode of coordinating social expectations and interaction when the institutional framework and the embeddedness of social interaction is weak, but power produced by a comprehensive and stable institutional environment appears to be fostering the production of trust rather than being detrimental to it.
Abstract: The first part of the paper will theoretically examine the social function of trust, the preconditions of the production of trust and the possibility of reconstructing power as a mechanism functionally similar to trust. The second part of the paper is based on empirical research and will elaborate from a comparative perspective (Britain and Germany) how industry associations and legal regulations influence the quality of inter-firm relations. The authors' central argument is that trust is more reliably produced when these institutions are strong and consistent and business relations are deeply embedded into their institutional environment. They will argue that power is more likely to function as an alternative mode of coordinating social expectations and interaction when the institutional framework and the embeddedness of social interaction is weak. But power produced by a comprehensive and stable institutional environment - what the authors call system power - appears to be fostering the production of trust rather than being detrimental to it
TL;DR: This paper argued that the economic system can only exist if women and nature remain externalised, as women form the bridge between an autonomous individualised "man" and the biological/ecological underpinning of his existence.
TL;DR: This paper developed a historically contingent understanding of patterns of uneven economic development in the U.S. South and found that outside investment seems to reproduce rather than disrupt local patterns of inequality and poverty.
Abstract: This paper develops a historically contingent understanding of patterns of uneven economic development in the U.S. South. We conceptualize spatial variation in economic development and its consequences for inequality to be embedded in both local and international dynamics. The character of local economic development, it is argued, reflects the organizational base and heterogeneity of local elites, the divisions and relative power of nonelites, and the embeddedness of the local political economy in national and world systems of politics and production. These ideas are developed and made historically and spatially specific through an analysis of uneven development in one Southern state, North Carolina. Our findings suggest that contemporary patterns of uneven development and the resulting income deprivations and inequality reflect conditional interactions between elite economic projects and racial divisions within the working class. We find that outside investment seems to reproduce rather than disrupt local patterns of inequality and poverty.
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the problem of entrepreneurial activity in an environment of institutional change and discuss the possible implications of the entrepreneurs' strategies for the transformation of Tanzania's economic and social life.
Abstract: This study addresses the problem of entrepreneurial activity in an environment of institutional change. The focus is on industrial entrepreneurs in northwest Tanzania. Like many other African countries, Tanzania is today undergoing a process of structural transformation. Significant changes are introduced in the formal institutional framework. The aim of these changes is to create an "enabling environment" for enterprising activities, and thereby also to affect the informal institutional framework, and society as a whole. In this process, entrepreneurs are expected to play an important role as "agents of change". The author discusses if, and how, this expectation may be fulfilled. Focus is on the entrepreneurs' industrial venturing activities - on how they identify and obtain the resources needed, and how problems are dealt with along the way. Strategies for resource acquisition and for handling an uncertain business environment are analyzed, and set within a framework of both formal and informal institutional change. In the analysis of the entrepreneurs' strategies, the issue of "trust" becomes central. In interpreting this issue and other aspects of the entrepreneurial process, neo-institutionalist conceptions of social change are combined with sociological theory. The social embeddedness of the entrepreneurs' activities is stressed, and conflicts that arise from handling family support obligations while maintaining sound business practices are discussed. Finally, the study discusses the possible implications of the entrepreneurs' strategies for the transformation of Tanzania's economic and social life.
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of embeddedness, which is central to the social network perspective, is introduced and two ethnographic cases, gift giving among!Kung and ritual celebrations in a Javanese village, illustrate the potential of social network analysis for investigating embeddedness.
Abstract: As the world becomes more complex, the work of anthropology, both theoretical and practical, becomes more demanding. People at the local level are increasingly being drawn into larger circuits through economic linkages, demographic processes, social interactions, and flows of information that transcend local and national boundaries. Such global linkages and the new embeddedness they produce require more sophisticated approaches to ethnography. This paper proposes social network analysis as a valuable approach to that end. The concept of embeddedness, which is central to the social networks perspective, is introduced. Hierarchical embeddedness of the local level in the larger society, economy, and polity is distinguished from domain embeddedness, the interpenetration of different fields of activity. Network studies of two ethnographic cases, gift giving among !Kung and ritual celebrations in a Javanese village, illustrate the potential of social network analysis for investigating embeddedness. The paper co...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the stakeholder perspective on corporate social responsibility is in the process of being enlarged, and that corporations are increasingly adopting organizational features designed to promote proactivity over mere reactivity in their stakeholder relationships.
Abstract: We argue that the stakeholder perspective on corporate social responsibility is in the process of being enlarged. Due to the process of institutional isomorphism, corporations are increasingly adopting organizational features designed to promote proactivity over mere reactivity in their stakeholder relationships. We identify two sources of pressure promoting the emergence of the proactive corporation -- stakeholder activism and the recognition of the social embeddedness of the economy. The final section describes four organizational design dimensions being installed by the more proactive corporations today -- cooperation, participation, negotiation, and direct anticipation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effect of inter-industrial control on the survival of Israeli firms and found that industry's corporate instability within industries is associated with the industry's structural embeddedness in the network of inputoutput transactions, the degree of control it has over its external transactions, and its political leverage.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the phenomenon of economic disembeddedness as characteristic of capitalist economics and social policy as a separate phenomenon seen as a means to correct the dysfunctions caused by the first.
Abstract: The paper addresses the phenomenon of economic disembeddedness as characteristic of capitalist economics, and social policy as a separate phenomenon seen as a means to correct the dysfunctions caused by the first. Cooperatives are presented as a corporate entity where the subordination of the economic to the social (embeddedness) is inherent in their constitution. Examples used range from abuses of cooperatives as “soft” facades to serve “hard” systems, to genuine instances of participatory development and economic democracy. However, these and similar practices may remain marginal, as long as they operate in an overall context dominated by the “strong-imaginary-completeness” paradigm of Western origin. Increased resort to its “soft-symbolic-incompleteness” opposite may help a stronger articulation between the economic and the social. The latter may thus lose its raison d'etre as a corrective policy.
Book•
01 Jun 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the embeddedness of economic activities in the work of small-scale cross-border traders between the Central European 'buffer zone' countries of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and the countries further East.
Abstract: The paper considers the 'embeddedness' of economic activities in the work of small-scale cross-border traders between the Central European 'buffer zone' countries of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and the countries further East. Shuttle trading has become a significant feature of post-Communist societies and the research, based upon interviews with traders and field work in markets in the region, explores the way in which it evolved and the different ways in which it is organised. The paper explores the tension between the need to establish safe and predictable patterns of economic activity in an extremely risky and changeable environment on the one hand, and the need to limit the extent of responsibility on the other - in other words, the tension between saving and spending social capital. Two main hypotheses are considered which emerge out of the literature on ethnic business in other parts of the world. The first is the hypotheses that where formal regulations of the market either do not work or do not exist, other forms of informal organisation arise to regulate trade and lessen the risks associated with it. The second main hypothesis is that there is a trader's dilemma operating - a dilemma between accumulating primary capital and disbursing it amongst the group to which the trader is obligated. Post-Communist Central Europe is a particularly interesting place in which to consider these factors because we are witnessing a very rapid transformation from one form of social organisation where private activity of this kind was discouraged or illegal to a new form of social organisation where market relations and private business are encouraged. In such circumstances small scale traders are developing new market cultures, new traditions of exchange. They could be seen as pioneers of capitalism. At the end of the paper we develop a schematic model of the way in which social, ethnic and familial networks operate under these conditions.;
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This work explores how it might be possible for standards to simultaneouslyenable activities in the technical environment and not constrain them and describes such technological systems as being "just" embedded.
Abstract: Technological systems are shaped both by forces arising from the technical environmentof product markets and those arising from the institutional environment ofcompatibility standards. We explore how it might be possible for standards to simultaneouslyenable activities in the technical environment and not constrain them.Such a scenario is possible when the technical environment is not completelyembedded in the standards that shape them. We characterize such technological systemsas being "just" embedded.
TL;DR: In this article, the development of managerial ideologies within the political and cultural context of pre-state Israel in its formative stage (1920−1948) is explored based on the historical case study of Palestine Potash Ltd (PPL).
Abstract: The study of managerial ideologies focuses exclusively on the emergence of American models and their dissemination in other societies. Argues that the a‐political, scientific and rational facade on which these models are premised is often incommensurate with the industrial experience of “non‐western” societies. Based on the historical case study of Palestine Potash Ltd (PPL), this study explores the development of managerial ideologies within the political and cultural context of pre‐state Israel in its formative stage (1920‐1948). While elaborating on the undocumented management history of Israel, demonstrates that American managerial ideologies were indeed imported, but their logic and casting were subordinated to national objectives. Furthermore, shows that Socialist‐National, idiosyncratic political ideology became a dominant ideology of employment management ‐ even in capitalistic firms ‐ allowing managers to acquire legitimation, control workers and increase profits of industrial enterprises.
TL;DR: A 3-part framework is suggested with which to analyse competing claims about convergence versus what can be termed social embeddedness (as reflected in divergence between different health systems) and concludes that both convergence and divergence can be seen in subsectors of developed countries' health systems.
Abstract: The question of whether health care systems in developed countries are coming to resemble each other more is attracting increasing attention. A number of recent papers have argued that the current crop of health reforms is creating convergence in health systems structure and organization. This paper suggests a 3-part framework with which to analyse competing claims about convergence versus what can be termed social embeddedness (as reflected in divergence between different health systems). The available evidence on social, political/health policy and technical/mechanical categories is reviewed. The paper concludes that both convergence and divergence can be seen in subsectors of developed countries' health systems. It might be useful to consider the convergence/divergence mix between countries in order to reflect better the current situation as well as to retain a broader range of options for national policy makers.
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deal with subsidiaries in multinational corporations and especially how thespecific operational environment of the subsidiaries affects integration, control and influence in the multina... and how the specific operational environment affects integration and control.
Abstract: This thesis deals with subsidiaries in multinational corporations and especially how thespecific operational environment of the subsidiaries affects integration, control andinfluence in the multina ...
TL;DR: This paper analyzed why agricultural workers in West Bengal sell their labour via different types of institutional arrangements and found that hired labour arrangements are embedded in the structure of asset ownership, and in ideologies of caste and gender.
Abstract: This paper analyses why agricultural workers in West Bengal sell their labour via different types of institutional arrangements. The aim is to contribute towards explanation of the coexistence of diverse hired labour arrangements. While neo‐classical institutionalist models have been found wanting in this regard (not least because of their tendency to focus on employers’ choices alone), they offer important insights. However, the embeddedness approach taken here suggests that social and economic structures need to be specified prior to the analysis of labour market choice. Using microstudy data collected in 1991–92, it is shown that hired labour arrangements are embedded in the structure of asset ownership, and in ideologies of caste and gender.
TL;DR: The authors argue that economic actors are embedded in a sociohistorical context that shapes and constrains activity, and they find great regularity in the script by which economic actors converge in strategies.
Abstract: Economic sociologists stress that economic actors are embedded in a sociohistorical context that shapes and constrains activity. Neoinstitutionalists build on this idea and argue that economic actors are embedded in two key ways. First, they are embedded in the rationalized worldview described by Weber in which every end has an optimal means. Second, economic actors are embedded in a local context in which they collectively search for optimal strategies. Whereas local contexts and strategies vary greatly, neoinstitutionalists find great regularity in the script by which economic actors converge in strategies. The present article expounds on this “double embeddedness” by way of a single historical case: the construction of strategy by early American railroaders.