The Center for the Study of Economy and Society (CSES) is the leading research organization of its kind committed to the sociological study of economic action.

In recognition of the excellence of economic sociology at Cornell, the University established CSES in 2001. Named after Max Weber's influential book Economy and Society, the Center's mission is to extend the core ideas and insights pioneered by Weber in a new institutionalist approach to the study of economy, society, and polity. CSES focuses on supporting advances in theory and research on institutions, organizations, networks, norms, beliefs, and rationality in the study of economy and society.

CSES Affiliated Books:

Victor Nee and Sonja Opper, 2012 - Capitalism from Below, Harvard University Press. (more)

James March, 2010 - The Ambiguities of Experience, Cornell University Press.

Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg, 2007 - On Capitalism, Stanford University Press.

Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg, 2005 - The Economic Sociology of Capitalism, Princeton University Press.

Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg, 2005 - The Handbook of Economic Sociology, Princeton University Press.

Richard Swedberg, 2003 - The Principles of Economic Sociology, Princeton University Press.

CSES Working Paper Series:

The CSES Working Papers Series is co-edited by Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg, editor of the acclaimed Handbook of Economic Sociology.

Victor Nee and Sonja Opper - “Markets and Institutional Change in China”

Todd Arthur Bridges - “Governing Shades of Grey: The Emergence of Market Governance in the Absence of a Formal Institutional Environment”

Victor Nee and Michael Siemon - “State Structures”

Richard Swedberg - “The Role of Confidence in the European Debt Crisis”

Economy and Society Graduate Training:

Economic sociology at Cornell has ranked as a top-10 graduate training program for over a decade. The U.S. News and World Report ranks Cornell's graduate program in economic sociology among the top in the nation, alongside those of Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Wisconsin-Madison, and Princeton.

CSES seeks to attract and train the best and brightest of the next generation of scholars in the fields relating to the study of economy and society. At Cornell, graduate students have ample opportunity to work with faculty members on sponsored research projects. Graduate courses are offered each year in economic sociology, network analysis, and organizational behavior, and special topics graduate seminars and independent studies are also encouraged in the graduate program.

Graduate students play an active role in the daily life of CSES. For example, each working group has a graduate student intern who works closely with the group's faculty coordinator. They are strongly encouraged to present papers at the working group meetings and to contribute articles to the CSES Working Paper Series.

Graduates of Cornell Sociology--who were trained in economic sociology, organizational theory, and network analysis--include: Chistorpher Yenkey (Chicago), Ko Kuwabara (Columbia), Damon Centola (MIT), James Kitts (Columbia), Duncan Watts (Columbia/Microsoft), Lisa Keister (Duke), Sarah Soule (Stanford), and Paul Ingram (Columbia).

Economy and Society Undergraduate Training:

Undergraduate sociology majors who wish to be trained in economic sociology, new institutionalism, network analysis and organizational studies may acquire a concentration in "Business, Networks and Institutions."