---
entity_slug: agricultural_market_access_cost_structure
evaluator: null
evaluated_at: '2026-02-23T00:27:34.977608'
overall_score: 4.4
scores:
- name: definition_precision
  value: 4.0
  max_value: 5.0
  rationale: The definition clearly identifies specific cost components (transportation,
    trade barriers, taxes, institutional restrictions) and their economic function
    in preventing market access. It avoids circularity and captures a distinct analytical
    concept about the structure of market access costs.
- name: source_grounding
  value: 5.0
  max_value: 5.0
  rationale: This entity is directly grounded in Smith's analysis in Book III, Chapter
    2, where he extensively discusses how high transportation costs and institutional
    barriers prevented medieval farmers from accessing profitable markets. The concept
    accurately reflects Smith's argument about cost structures inhibiting agricultural
    specialization.
- name: domain_placement
  value: 5.0
  max_value: 5.0
  rationale: The "Exchange" domain is precisely correct, as this entity deals with
    the costs and barriers that facilitate or impede market transactions. The concept
    sits at the heart of Smith's analysis of how exchange mechanisms develop and function.
- name: vsm_relevance
  value: 3.0
  max_value: 5.0
  rationale: This entity has moderate VSM relevance, primarily mapping to S4 (intelligence/environmental
    adaptation) as it concerns how economic systems adapt to environmental constraints
    like geography and institutions. However, it's somewhat abstract and doesn't clearly
    align with operational VSM functions.
- name: explanatory_value
  value: 5.0
  max_value: 5.0
  rationale: This entity provides excellent explanatory power by illuminating the
    specific mechanism through which institutional and geographical factors prevented
    efficient agricultural development in medieval Europe. It explains a crucial structural
    relationship between costs, market access, and economic specialization in Smith's
    historical analysis.
---

# Evaluation: Agricultural Market Access Cost Structure

## definition_precision — 4.0 / 5.0

The definition clearly identifies specific cost components (transportation, trade barriers, taxes, institutional restrictions) and their economic function in preventing market access. It avoids circularity and captures a distinct analytical concept about the structure of market access costs.

## source_grounding — 5.0 / 5.0

This entity is directly grounded in Smith's analysis in Book III, Chapter 2, where he extensively discusses how high transportation costs and institutional barriers prevented medieval farmers from accessing profitable markets. The concept accurately reflects Smith's argument about cost structures inhibiting agricultural specialization.

## domain_placement — 5.0 / 5.0

The "Exchange" domain is precisely correct, as this entity deals with the costs and barriers that facilitate or impede market transactions. The concept sits at the heart of Smith's analysis of how exchange mechanisms develop and function.

## vsm_relevance — 3.0 / 5.0

This entity has moderate VSM relevance, primarily mapping to S4 (intelligence/environmental adaptation) as it concerns how economic systems adapt to environmental constraints like geography and institutions. However, it's somewhat abstract and doesn't clearly align with operational VSM functions.

## explanatory_value — 5.0 / 5.0

This entity provides excellent explanatory power by illuminating the specific mechanism through which institutional and geographical factors prevented efficient agricultural development in medieval Europe. It explains a crucial structural relationship between costs, market access, and economic specialization in Smith's historical analysis.
