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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Industry Associations As Facilitators Of Social Capital: The Establishment And Early Operations Of The Melbourne Woolbrokers Association, David Merrett, Stephen Morgan, Simon Ville
Industry Associations As Facilitators Of Social Capital: The Establishment And Early Operations Of The Melbourne Woolbrokers Association, David Merrett, Stephen Morgan, Simon Ville
Simon Ville
Relocation of the selling of Australia's wool clip from London to cities in Australia in the late nineteenth century led to the creation of wool selling industry associations, such as the Melbourne Woolbrokers Association (MWA). Highly successful in fostering competitive collaboration that improved market efficiency, the Association rested on the social capital brought to it and further developed by the participants, individuals with extensive connections in the pastoral, banking and transport industries. The collective social capital vested in the Association enabled the earning of economic rents, firstly from the high trust created through internal cohesion reinforced by formalised sanctions, and …
Rent Seeking Or Market Strengthening? Industry Associations In New Zealand Wool Broking, Simon Ville
Rent Seeking Or Market Strengthening? Industry Associations In New Zealand Wool Broking, Simon Ville
Simon Ville
This paper builds on recent conceptual work about associations that is drawn from the new institutional economics. It uses evidence from New Zealand wool broking to indicate the circumstances in which industry associations can operate effectively and in the broader public interest. Through their strong associative capacity and effective specialization of function, wool-broking industry associations developed flexible routines for managing wool auctions, mediated disputes, mitigated opportunism, addressed major market disruptions, and served as a communication channel with government. External pressures and monitoring from other business interests, governments, and a competitive wool market constrained rent-seeking behavior, preventing members from benefiting at …