TY - CHAP AB - The phenomenon of the ethnically homogeneous middleman group (EHMG) or ethnic trade network – the Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, the Gujarati-Indians merchants in East Africa, the Jewish merchants in medieval Europe, etc. – is ubiquitous in stateless societies, pre-industrial and in less-developed economies (Curtin, 1984). Neoclassical (Walrasian) theory of exchange cannot explain the existence of merchants let alone the phenomenon of the EHMG. This is because Neoclassical theory of exchange is a static theory of frictionless, perfectly competitive markets with the Walrasian auctioneer costlessly coordinating the plans of anonymous producers (sellers) and consumers (buyers) so as to achieve equilibrium. There is no role for merchants in the Neoclassical theory of exchange. VL - 9 SN - 978-1-84950-465-2, 978-0-76231-378-5/1529-2134 DO - 10.1016/S1529-2134(06)09007-7 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2134(06)09007-7 AU - Landa Janet T. ED - Elisabeth Krecké ED - Carine Krecké ED - Roger G. Koppl PY - 2006 Y1 - 2006/01/01 TI - Austrian Theory of Entrepreneurship Meets the Social Science and Bioeconomics of the Ethnically Homogeneous Middleman Group T2 - Cognition and Economics T3 - Advances in Austrian Economics PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 177 EP - 200 Y2 - 2024/04/24 ER -