Information, Bargaining, and Relationships: Cultural Goods and Art in the Bazaar Economy in Western Markets

This chapter explores informal markets for cultural goods, focusing on the so-called “bazaar economy,” where transactions rely on face-to-face interactions, social networks, and personalized bargaining rather than formal institutions. While economic research has largely emphasized the high-end art market, this chapter highlights the need to understand value formation, trust, and information asymmetries in lower-tier, less regulated exchanges. It reviews existing literature on information, relationships, and exchange mechanisms in these markets, drawing insights from economics. The chapter then outlines a research agenda addressing legal frameworks, the circulation of illicit goods, agent heterogeneity, behavioral biases, and the interplay between cultural and economic value. It argues that these informal markets reveal dynamics not present in formal settings and discusses the methodological challenges inherent to these differences. Ultimately, it calls for a deeper, interdisciplinary investigation into the risks, regulations, and relational structures shaping these underexplored cultural marketplaces.