The sociology of financial markets / edited by Karin Knorr Cetina and Alex Preda, eds.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Knorr-Cetina, K. (Karin)

Preda, Alex, 1960-

John Lammey Stewart Memorial Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Sociological aspects.

Economics.

Physical Description:

xii, 319 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Financial markets have often been seen by economists as efficient mechanisms that fulfill vital functions within economies. But do financial markets really operate in such a straightforward manner? The Sociology of Financial Markets approaches financial markets from a sociological perspective. It seeks to provide an adequate sociological conceptualization of financial markets, and examine who the actors within them are, how they operate within which networks, and under which cognitive and cultural assumptions. Patterns of trading, trading room coordination, cognition and emotions, and global interaction are studied to help us better understand how markets work and the types of reasoning underlying these institutions. Financial markets also have a structural impact on the governance of social and economic institutions. Until now, sociologists have examined issues of governance mostly with respect to the legal framework of financial transactions. Contributions in this book highlight the ways in which financial markets shape the inner working and structure of corporations and their governance. Finally, the book seeks to investigate the symbolic aspects of financial markets. Financial markets affect not only economic and social structures but also societal cultural images and frameworks of meaning. Barbara Czarniawska demonstrates how representations of gender relationships are a case in point. Arguing that financial markets are not simply neutral with respect to questions of gender but enhance certain images and interpretations of men and women. Addressing many important topics from a sociological perspective for the first time, this book will be key reading for academics, researchers, and advanced students of financial markets in Business, Management, Economics, Finance and Sociology.

Contents:

Introduction / Karin Knorr Cetina, Alex Preda

SECTION I. INSIDE FINANCIAL MARKETS

The embeddedness of electronic markets: the case of global capital markets / Saskia Sassen

How are global markets global? The architecture of a flow world / Karin Knorr Cetina

How a superportfolio emerges: long-term capital management and the sociology of arbitrage / Donald MacKenzie

How to recognize opportunities: heterarchical search in a trading room / Daniel Beunza, David Stark

Emotions on the trading floor: social and symbolic expressions / Jean-Pierre Hassoun

Women in financial services: fiction and more fiction / Barbara Czarniawska

SECTION II. THE AGE OF THE INVESTOR

The investor as a cultural figure of global capitalism / Alex Preda

The values and beliefs of European investors / Werner De Bondt

Conflicts of interests in the US brokerage industry / Richard Swedberg

SECTION III. FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE

Interpretive politics at the Federal Reserve / Mitchel Y. Abolafia

The return of bureaucracy: managing dispersed knowledge in global finance / Gordon L. Clark, Nigel Thrift

Enterprise risk management and the organization of uncertainty in financial institutions / Michael Power

Managing investors: how financial markets reshaped the American firm / Dirk Zorn ... [et al.]

Nothing but net? Networks and status in corporate governance / Gerald Davis, Gregory Robbins.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John Lammey Stewart Memorial Library Fund.

ISBN:

0199275599

OCLC:

57021029