1903-1928 - A Study on the Organizational Network of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce

Author: Ying Liya
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: This book explores the interactive relationship between the organizational networks of Tianjin's merchant associations in modern times and the transformation of regional market economies. It strives to apply several influential contemporary theories in economics and sociology to the study of its research subjects. From the perspectives of transaction costs and game theory, it proposes that the market function of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks is a contradiction in unity between certainty and uncertainty, attempting to provide an empirical example for the transaction cost theory and offering a new theoretical approach for studying modern merchant associations. The book in three levels: First, from the perspective of regional economic and social networks, it analyzes the hierarchical structure of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks and its external environmental factors and internal operational mechanisms, elaborating on the decisive influence of the contradictions and conflicts in the integration process of modern regional markets on the construction of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks. Second, based on the theory of market failures, it analyzes the nature of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks and applies the analytical methods of transaction costs in new institutional economics and game theory to explain the economic functions of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks in regional markets. Third, using the duality of structured theory as a tool, it explores the interactive relationship between Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks and regional commodity markets and capital markets under temporal and spatial contexts. During its own development process, the Tianjin merchant association constructed a multi-level, institutionalized organizational network. It is both a result of the transformation of regional market economies and an important factor influencing the modern transformation of regional markets. As a non-market organization, the market function of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks is to reduce transaction costs in regional markets. The historical interaction between Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks and the transformation of regional market economies reflects the basic characteristics of the duality of structure: on one hand, after its emergence, Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks became repeatedly involved rules and resources in the reproduction process of regional markets; on the other hand, the institutionalized structure and practices of Tianjin's merchant association organizational networks simultaneously have a restrictive and driving effect on the reproduction process of regional markets.