The Social Order of Trade in a Japanese Market: Governance,Alliance, and Transaction at the Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market, Tokyo

该奖项将资助一名文化人类学家，研究日本东京主要鱼类批发市场经济活动的社会关系。有待检验的理论涉及经济关系的本质，因为市场有许多个性化的、垂直协调的经济联系。在正常的市场理论中，这样的市场应该由许多短期竞争关系组成，然而这个市场却因其将明显竞争的企业之间的合作关系制度化而引人注目。研究方法包括参与者观察和正式访谈以及对市场参与者的调查。这项研究很重要，因为它将阐明合作如何在竞争环境中促进经济活动。它还将具有实际意义，说明日本海关如何在一个非常大的、资本雄厚的鱼市场上运作。

This award will support a cultural anthropologist studying the social relations of economic activity in the main wholesale fish market in Tokyo, Japan. The theory to be tested involves the nature of economic relationships, since the market has many personalized, vertically-coordinated economic ties. In normal market theory such a market should be composed of many short-term competitive relations, yet this market is striking for its institutionalization of cooperative relationships between apparently competing firms. The methodology includes participant observation and formal interviews as well as a survey of market participants. This research is important because it will shed light on how cooperation can facilitate economic activity in a competitive environment. It will also have practical significance in illustrating how Japanese customs operate in a very large, heavily capitalized fish market.