Sociology and Economics: Crossing the Boundaries

Abstract

Studies that cross the boundaries between sociology and economics help to enhance our understanding of both economy and society. Economics has had a greater influence on sociology than vice versa. several core subfields of sociology - such as labor market sociology, strati fication, and work and organizations - have been significantly influenced by economic theories; but sociology has had relatively little impact on economics. Communication between economics and sociology is hindered by intellectual barriers such as fundamentally different assumptions with regard to the roles of induction and deduction, as well as by institutional and professional obstacles. Opportunities are grawvingfor integrating sociological and economic explanations, as the interests of sociologists and economists are converging and more work is now occurring on the border between the two disciplines. Economic institutions and processes are intimately related to sociological phenomena. The relationship between economics and sociology has a long tradition: the classic sociologists - Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim drew heavily upon ideas from the older discipline of economics; while the founders of economic institutionalism in America - John Commons, Wesley Clair Mitchell, Thorstein Veblen - all looked to sociological insights as they sought to explain the nature of economic institutions. Economic sociology is a meeting place for economists and sociologists, since it involves the analysis of economic institutions from a sociological perspective (Schumpeter 1954). There have been at least three distinct sociological traditions