The Culture of Markets

What are the logics of pricing, and why do some pricing schemesdefy standard economic expectations? What explains the differentlabor market outcomes of people who receive the same training fromthe same place and who have similar grades? Why do nationalgovernments issue statements about the country’s history andpersonality when developing economic policies, and why arestruggles over the images pictured on money so hard fought?

This engaging book locates the answers to these and other questionsin the cultural logics and dynamics that constitute and guidemarkets. Using clear prose and illustrative examples, Frederick F.Wherry demystifies what culture is, and how it can be identifiedboth in the way that markets are organized and in the way thatpeople operate within them.

The Culture of Markets offers a comprehensive introductionto the puzzles found in studies of markets and to the ways thatcultural analyses address those puzzles. The clarity of thearguments will make this a welcome resource for upper-levelstudents of cultural sociology, economic sociology, andbusiness/marketing.