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Economic Custom in a Competitive Marketplace
Author(s) -
Plattner Stuart
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1983.85.4.02a00060
Subject(s) - reciprocal , consistency (knowledge bases) , agrarian society , economics , stock (firearms) , interpretation (philosophy) , competitive advantage , marketing , business , classical economics , industrial organization , history , computer science , agriculture , programming language , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , artificial intelligence
Dyadic, reciprocal equilibrating relationships, such as trading partnerships in agrarian markets, have been reported from many societies. Data from a competitive marketplace in St. Louis, Missouri is analyzed in a multiple regression to test for the existence of such relationships between merchants and consumers. The interpretation of variables representing each firm's price level and consistency of stock reveals that economic custom is important even in this competitive marketplace.