Transcending Transaction examines recent attempts to show how, in theory and history, market transaction can emerge from the unregulated interaction of competitive traders. Alan Shipman examines the legal, informational, organisational, social and financial foundations of market trade, focusing on the possible routes by which it could arise without the influence of pre-market social conventions or political structures.

Introduction: a world they never made 1 Getting markets started: transactions, trade and trust 2 Legal foundations: contract rules and property rights 3 Epistemological foundations: information and knowledge 4 Ontological foundations: technology and culture 5 Organisational foundations: companies and capitals 6 Corporate foundations: markets versus managerialism 7 Financial foundations: credit, insurance and money