James E. Rauch

James E. Rauch, associate professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, and research associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, engaged in a study of what he terms the "network/search view of trade" as applied to the difficulties African Americans experience in gaining a foothold in inner-city retail trade. Many connections between buyers and sellers, he argues, are made through a "search" process conditioned by proximity and pre-existing ties ("networks"), rather than through centralized markets. He has suggested the creation of a general trading company for African American retailers which would substitute for the intra-ethnic networks common among other minority retailers. Rauch also completed work on an empirical study to apply his network/search view to international trade.