Towards a synthesis of transaction cost economics and a feminist oriented network analysis: An application to women's street commerce

This paper suggests the possibility of an interdisciplinary, tripartite mer ger of transaction cost economics and the concept of embeddedness, with fem inist insights. It demonstrates that in isolation, a simple application of transaction cost analysis can offer an adequate explanation of economic act ivity. The explanatory power of this approach however, is enhanced when com plemented by greater recognition of the importance of the social context in which economic activity occurs. This paper uses research from New Zealand' s largest street market to examine women's work in street commerce, a sub-s ector of the informal sector. Aspects of transaction:cost analysis are appl ied to activities of women market vendors. It is proposed however, that the approach we take which considers the embeddedness of economic activity in ongoing networks of social relations, and the intertwining of economic with non-economic goals, is compatible with aspects of feminism. Novel features of the analysis include the application of transaction cost analysis to in formal sector activity and a synthesis of this approach with a feminist ori ented network analysis.