APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 Norwegian version

ELE 3754 Market, network and power

Responsible for the course
Tore Bakken, Peder Inge Furseth

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
The finance crisis showed us that economic theory was not able to predict the crisis before we were in the middle of it. The market economy must therefore be understood from other angles than just the purely economic angle, i.e. sociological and psychological aspects. This is a course in how company and societal structures affect economic activity and in particular how companies are influenced by market, social networks and formal and informal forces. To some extent the course supplements and challenges the assumptions and behavioral hypotheses on which the conventional economic understanding is based.

Learning outcome
Acquired knowledge
The students shall learn basic concepts and knowledge of how the market function, how networks have become a crucial part of the economy, and how power function in market and network.

Acquired skills
The students shall be able to account for essential concepts, processes and theories: how they create problems for markets, networks and power relations, and suggest how these problem areas can be dealt with by supplementing economic theory with other theories and perspectives on market, networks and power relations..

Reflection
The students shall develop an understanding of how informal circumstances and other behavioral hypotheses than those we usually encounter in economic theory are very important for a better understanding of how markets, networks and power function. After having completed the course the students shall be able to pose critical questions to the application of economic theory and be able to reflect on how important assumptions and behavioral hypotheses affect the answers given by economic theory.

Prerequisites
None

Compulsory reading

Book extract:
Andersen, Svein S. og Ole Gunnar Austvik. 2001. Norge som Petroleumsland – modent for endring. I: Tranøy og Østerud, red. : Mot et globalisert Norge. Gyldendal akademisk. ss 373-404
Bauman, Zygmunt. 2007. Forbrukersamfunnet. I : Schjelderup, Gerhard E. og Morten W. Knudsen, red. : Forbrukersosiologi : makt, tegn og mening i forbrukersamfunnet. Cappelen akademisk forlag. ss 229-251 (22 s)
Bråten, Stein. 1998. Modellmakt og pedagogisk kunnskapsformidling på studie- og arbeidssted. I: Kommunikasjon og samspill : fra fødsel til alderdom. Tano Aschehaug. kap. 6
Castells, Manuel. 1996. The rise of the network society. Blackwell. kap. 2 og 3
Dobbin, Frank. 2004. The Sociological View of the Economy. I: Dobbin, F.: The New economic sociology : a reader. Princeton University Press. ss 1-46
Engelstad, Fredrik. 2005. Hvordan forstår vi makt?. I: Hva er makt. Universitetsforlaget. kap. 1
Engelstad, Fredrik. 2010. Makt : konsentrasjon og fordeling. I: Frønes, Ivar og Lise Kjølsrød, red. : Det Norske samfunn. 6. utg. Gyldendal akademisk. kap. 7
Furseth, Peder Inge. 2004. Social influences on competition : a study of retailing in Norway. Unipub. Kap 7, ss 66-79 og kap 9, ss 99-112
Granovetter, M. 1993. The nature of economic relationships. Swedberg, Richard, red. : Explorations in economic sociology. Russell Sage Foundation. ss 3-41
Hernes, Gudmund. 1978. Makt, blandingsøkonomi og blandingsadministrasjon. I: Hernes, Gudmund : Forhandlingsøkonomi og blandingsadministrasjon. Universitetsforlaget. ss 11-61
Hveem, H. Heum, P. og Ruud, A. 2001. Norske selskapers transnasjonalisering og demokratiet. I: Tranøy, Bent Sofus, Øyvind Østerud, red : Mot et globalisert Norge?. Gyldendal akademisk. ss 334-373
Håkansson, Håkan ... [et al.]. 2009. Analysing business interaction. I: Business in networks. Wiley. ss 27-45
Håkansson, Håkon ... [et al.]. 2009. A jungle or a rainforest?. I: Business in networks. Wiley. ss 1-11
Tranøy, Bent Sofus. 2002. Politikk i spekulasjonens tid. I: Tranøy, Bent Sofus, Øyvind Østerud, red. : Mot et globalisert Norge. Gyldendal akademisk. ss 303-324
Weber, Max. 1971. Makt og herredømme. I: Makt og byråkrati. Gyldendal. Kap 3 og 4, ss 71-105

Articles:
Furseth, Peder Inge. 2005. Håndtrykkenes sosiologi. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. nr 4. Universitetsforlaget. s. 435-466
Granovetter, M. 1985. Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. Americal Journal of Sociology. 91 (3). ss 481-510
Håkansson, H., Olsen, P.I , Bakken, T. 2013. Agency and Economizing in interacted Economies. The IMP Journal. 7 (2). ss 106-111
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L. & Thaler, R. 1986. Fairness and the Assumptions of Economics. Journal of Business. 59 (4), part 2. ss 285-300

Recommended reading

Course outline

• Market – functions
• Networks – basic concept
• Networks and influence
• Power – basic concept
• Power and influence
• Societal variation and societal changes based on markets and networks

Coursework requirements


Examination
A five (5) hours individual written exam concludes the course.
Examination code(s)
ELE 3754 - Written exam which accounts for 100% of the final grade in the course ELE 3754 Market, Network and Power – 7.5 ECTS.

Examination support materials
No aids are allowed.

Re-sit examination
A re-sit examination is held in connection with the next scheduled course.

Additional information