The Normative Foundations of the Market

The Normative Foundations of the Market

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, on 22-24 April, 2022 (via Zoom)

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Markets arise and operate through law—not just through public regulation but also through private law regimes (in property, contract, and tort) that create entitlements, enforce market exchanges, and limit expropriation. The operation of markets also reflects and reinforces a set of social norms—e.g., atomism, competition, douceur, etc.—and these too bear no necessary connection to market activity. Thus, any particular market architecture is not inevitable, but rather the result of a complex set of choices and developments.

The contingent, constructed nature of the legal rules and social norms that guide the market—or, maybe, markets (since different markets may be differently designed)—implies that the legal and social infrastructure of the market can, and indeed should, be normatively evaluated. The purpose of this interdisciplinary workshop on The Normative Foundations of the Market is to critically investigate the normative underpinnings that can, should, or in fact do underlie the operation of the market (or of a specific market, such as the labor market or the housing market).

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