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Energy Markets and Conventions

Max-Peter Menzel (2026)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. This chapter examines energy markets through the lens of economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC or convention theory), focusing on key concepts such as orders of worth (particularly the green convention), investment in forms, and conventions of the state. It draws on the socio-technical systems framework to contextualize energy markets within broader structural dynamics, including the energy regime, organizational forms, and modes of energy production: EC/SC’s studies of the energy regime highlight historical trajectories and shifts, especially the transition from fossil fuels to renewables; EC/SC’s studies on energy markets explore their social construction, showing how conventions are institutionalized through investments in forms such as laws, standards, and policies, and how shifts in state conventions reshape market structures; EC/SC’s studies on organizations reveal how changing dominant conventions influence organizational behavior and foster new forms aligned with sustainability. The studies of energy production in the field of convention theory underscore the contestation between fossil and renewable sources and the role of conventions rooted at different geographical scales. In sum, EC/SC offers a nuanced understanding of how social norms and values shape the social construction of energy markets and energy transitions. In doing so, this chapter emphasizes processes of testing and contestation as central drivers of transformative change.

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