When Markets Fail: A Sociological View on Market Failure

Market failure is an all-time favourite of legal scholars dealing with economic law. It is used to express a sentiment of discomfort with economic reality, often without any consciousness of the fact that markets are just a reflection of our own aggregate preferences. The following pages are an attempt to assess whether the sociological analysis of economic systems can be employed to add another dimension to the concept of market failure—with no claim whatsoever to having correctly interpreted the sociological theories referred to.