This paper considers the way in which open‐air markets have developed as a legacy of both the communist and pre‐communist systems, but have taken distinctive forms in the post‐communist context. The small‐scale capitalism represented by open‐air markets is often informal and not often analysed in the context of the transformation process in East and Central Europe. However, this paper argues that they can represent an important indicator of some aspects of the nature and extent of economic and social transformation. The paper considers theoretical insights for analysing open‐air markets and particular features of post‐communist open‐air markets: the degree of informalization; the role of ethnic communities; moral perspectives on markets; open‐air markets and social capital or other forms of informal social control; and the role of social structure in understanding open‐air markets. Cet article analyse la façon dont les marchés en plein air, se sont développés à partir de leurs origines dans les systèmes pré‐communistes et communistes, tout en prenant des formes distinctes dans le contexte post‐communiste. Le capitalisme à petite échelle représenté par les marchés en plein air est souvent informel et rarement analysé dans le contexte du processus de transformation en Europe de l’est et en Europe centrale. Néanmoins, cet article soutient qu’ils peuvent ?tre un indicateur important de certains aspects de la nature et du degré de transformation sociale et économique. Les éléments théoriques sont mis en relation avec l’analyse des marchés en plein air et leurs éléments caractéristiques après le communisme: L’importance de l’economie soutenue; le rôle des communautés ethniques; les perspectives morales sur les marchés; les marchés en plein air et le capital social ou d’autres formes de contrôle social officieux; et le rôle de la structure sociale pour comprendre les marchés en plein air.

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Abstract:In this paper, we analyze whether work values differ between three dimensions of time (age, birth cohort, period). Using data of five waves of the World Values Survey and the European Values Study from more than forty countries and hierarchical age-period-cohort regression models, we did not find relevant gaps between birth cohorts with respect to the relative importance of work or with respect to work values. Thus, we claim that, in European and Euro-Atlantic countries, birth cohorts, on average, do not differ significantly with regard to their work values. Our results suggest, however, that the relative importance of work is significantly higher in the middle-age groups than among the younger or older groups. Regarding work values, we found that the importance of having an interesting job, good pay, and good hours decreases with age, and that job security is equally important at every age, whereas the importance of having a useful job increases with age.

This paper looks at the evolution of the open-air marketplace in Hungary in terms of the theory of path-dependent development. The current post-communist open-air market has its origins in the economic peculiarities of the former communist distribution and production system and still bears many of these characteristics. The paper traces the distinctive ways in which this shaped open-air trading in Hungary. Drawing upon historical and anthropological evidence, the paper also shows how open-air markets had their roots in an even earlier pre-communist period which shaped the path of development which they subsequently took. The second half of the paper draws upon a unique empirical study of four markets in four towns in Hungary in the post-communist period to look in more detail at what are the characteristics of these open-air markets. The paper considers to what extent open-air markets have characteristics which can be found anywhere in the world and to what extent they are specific to the post-communist situation. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999.