In this study, Professor Nicole Biggart and co-author Rick Delbridge of Cardiff University (UK) develop a classification scheme of systems of exchange using concepts from network analysis, economics, and cultural sociology. This classification illustrates that the “free market” is but one possible type of economy and that other types are not best understood as imperfections. This classification helps to distinguish analytically among qualitatively different types of exchange arrangements and suggests bases from which to develop theories about the organization of markets and exchange systems of various types.

This paper won Biggart and Delbridge the Academy of Management Review 2005 Best Paper award.