The Constitution of Quality in Markets

States and Markets IV | May 16–17, 2011, Cologne

Topic and Goal of the Conference

For markets to operate actors must be able to assess the value of goods and define their quality in relation to each other. What makes one applicant in the labor market more desirable to hire than another? Why are actors willing to pay fortunes for an old piece of furniture? How can the quality of educational institutions be assessed? Why is a certain stock considered to be a “buy”?

Questions of valuation and quality assessment have played an important role in research at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne and at different research centers at Sciences Po. They have also developed into a crucial field of investigation in several fields of sociology, most prominently in economic sociology.

The goal of this workshop is to present and discuss the work in this field done at both institutions. The workshop shall focus on a critical exchange on the studies conducted. The shall prepare the publication of the papers in a joint volume, edited by Jens Beckert and Christine Musselin, and published by a major British or American academic press.

This workshop is the fourth of the joint workshop series “States and Markets” by Sciences Po and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

Contact

Christine Claus

Phone +49 221 2767-216