Abstract
Economic sociologists have argued that financial markets should be analysed as uncertainty-processing social networks and intermediary groups. Networks and intermediaries alone cannot confer legitimacy upon financial actors and transactions. Status groups are a solution to this problem. They emphasize reputation, honour and good social behaviour as stabilizers of collective action, as means of social control and as indicators of legitimacy. I examine here the emergence and evolution of status groups of brokers in London, New York and Paris, and show how emphasis on honour was used to legitimize financial transactions. I argue that financial markets should be conceived as networks, intermediary and status groups. In global, automated financial markets status groups like securities analysts are gaining in prominence.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 451-471 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | British Journal of Sociology |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 9 Sept 2005 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Brokers
- Global financial markets
- Honour
- Legitimacy
- Status groups