When Do Market Intermediaries Sanction Categorical Deviation? The Role of Expertise, Identity, and Competition

Abstract

This chapter studies the conditions under which market intermediaries reward or sanction market actors who deviate from the prevailing categorical order. The authors first assess how the expertise of a market intermediary – an understudied determinant of their authority – can lead to a positive evaluation of categorical deviation. Then, the authors identify two inhibitors that are likely to temper such positive appraisal: identity preservation and competition among market intermediaries. Factoring in both micro-level and macro-level dimensions of market dynamics, this chapter contributes to research on market intermediaries, the evolution of category systems, and more broadly, to the microfoundations of institutional change.

Citation

Boulongne, R., Cudennec, A. and Durand, R. (2019), "When Do Market Intermediaries Sanction Categorical Deviation? The Role of Expertise, Identity, and Competition", Haack, P., Sieweke, J. and Wessel, L. (Ed.) Microfoundations of Institutions (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 65A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X2019000065A009