Sebastian Giacovelli, Legitimacy Building for the European Energy Exchange [Abstract]

This paper analyzes the strategies to build legitimacy for the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig (short: EEX) which became the central trading place for electricity in Germany in 2002. Following Suchman’s differentiation in the three phases of gaining, maintaining and repairing legitimacy, it focuses on the phase of gaining legitimacy. The arguments in this article are predominately based on neo-institutional sociology. They are part of a larger project on the forms, functions and consequences of price building at the EEX.