Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/273318 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Citation: 
[Journal:] Economic Issues [ISSN:] 1363-7029 [Volume:] 20 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Nottingham Trent University [Place:] Nottingham [Year:] 2015 [Pages:] 45-65
Publisher: 
Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham
Abstract: 
Markets are reputed to be more flexible than other economic arrangements, though the meaning of flexibility remains vague. For orthodox economists, it has a narrow interpretation based on relative price movements within equilibrating markets, leading to allocative efficiency. For heterodox economists and other social scientists, it goes beyond market-clearing equilibrium to take in price setting, non-price adjustments and the institutional background. This paper examines the meaning of flexibility as applied to markets and evaluates the main alternative views. The orthodox approach, which informs most economic commentary, offers a deceptive story of a complete market system with rapid price changes. Actual economies are flexible not through prices alone but through various adjustment methods.
Subjects: 
markets
flexibility
price setting
relational trade
economic evolution
JEL: 
B52
D40
L10
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)
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