Doctoral Dissertation Research: Financial Ethics in the Context of Institutions and Legislation

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

The financial crisis of 2008 resulted in significant financial realignments globally. These have included both thoroughgoing legislative reforms and specific banking sector reorganizations. Now, a decade later, the research supported by this award asks an important question: how have these changes affected the day-to-day practices and values of those working in finance? Unlike most research on finance, this ethnographic project is focused on the local and the micro-processes through which global change must occur. This is a critically important and often missing perspective. In some locales the banking crisis has persisted. Understanding the motivations and activities of those who actually practice finance is a key part of identifying the underpinnings of financial resilience and avoiding future crises. The research will be conducted by Yale University anthropology doctoral student, Theodore Park, with the guidance of Dr. Paul Kockelman. The researcher has chosen to conduct the research in northern Italy because it is one site where the financial crisis has continued, despite targeted legislation, and because Italian reforms are sometimes identified as potential models for reforms in the United States. The researcher will collect data with a comparative research design, focusing on two wealth management firms, one of which has chosen to adopt the reforms and become publicly traded, and one of which has chosen to sustain its earlier identity as a local, private institution. The researcher will focus on the effects of variable institutional structures; the impacts of legislation, particularly the European Union's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive; and variation in ethical discourse and practices. Study populations will include wealth managers, fund managers, support staff, clients, and family members. Data will be collected through a mix of ethnographic methods including participant observations, semi-structured interviews, life history mappings, surveys, and focus groups. These data will be supplemented with archival research; compilations of relevant legislation; and analyses of media, including manager training materials and social media. Findings from this research will be shared with policy makers, the institutions studied, and the general public. The research also will contribute to improved theory of the social science of financial institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.