With its unusual focus that is based on extensive primary data, this anthropological-economic study adds a new theoretical perspective to the study of small-scale production in nonfactory settings. An original and innovative book, Economics of Collaboration examines the less tangible and largely unexplored areas of economic relations, such as informal control, trust, interdependency, and collaboration and argues that business relations founded on these elements are longer lasting and better able to cope with change. Developing an analytical framework that draws on elements of transaction cost economics, socioeconomics, and network theory, author Peter Knorringa demonstrates that producer-trader relations are characterized by a subtle mix of market, hierarchy, and collaboration. The book also features a detailed case study--the Agra footwear industry--to highlight the institutional peculiarities, including a lack of a rigorous enforcement of property rights and caste-based identity clashes between artisans and traders, that shape the objectives of individual entrepreneurs. Through this case study, the author also distinguishes between various types of transaction regimes, examines the different levels of informal dealings within specific production and marketing chains, and assesses the role of the character traits of individual entrepreneurs in influencing the bargaining process while striking deals. Economics of Collaboration will be of interest to those who study the sociology of work as well as to economists and researchers in the areas of institutional economics, transaction cost economics, socioeconomics, development studies, and economic theory.
