James E. Rauch
Associate Professor of Economics
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.