The Structure of Illegal Markets

Jens Beckert and Renate Mayntz

 
Research in economic sociology has taken hardly any notice of illegal markets. The field of the sociology of organizations has a similar blind spot, ignoring groups such as terrorist organizations. Not only do illegal markets play a major role in the economy and society, they are also very interesting from a theoretical standpoint: if the production, distribution, consumption or trade of a given good is illegal, how does that affect the market for it? The project will first examine the structural principles governing illegal markets, differentiating between production, distribution, and consumption, since the aspects of illegality of a market affect its structure and impact. Moreover, the configuration of the actors within an illegal market determines how it works. Who are the actors, and how do they operate in the market? The project then looks at the interconnections between legal and illegal economies such as investing profits from illegal businesses into legal companies (money laundering), selling counterfeit products, or illegally disposing of hazardous waste from a company with otherwise legal production methods. Where do illegal markets intersect with the legal economy, or with criminal organizations such as terrorist groups? The project will develop an analytical approach based on existing literature, primarily in criminology, in order to identify illegal markets and their relationship to various surrounding sectors of the economy. It aims to develop research questions for the further investigations of specific markets and their actor constellations from the viewpoint of economic sociology. Project duration: January 2010 to December 2014.
 

 
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