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Back in the bazaar: taking Pierre Bourdieu to a trading room

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  • Olivier Godechot

    (OSC - Observatoire sociologique du changement (Sciences Po, CNRS) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of aesthetic judgment, this text offers an inductive account of financial reasoning inside a trading room. Driven to maximise bank profits, trading room operators do not find ‘one best way'. Rather they choose among several possible winning strategies: mathematical arbitrage, economic analysis, chartist analysis. These strategies differ sharply from one another in their conception of the market, method, proximity to scholarly knowledge, and legitimacy. We show that the choice of one method depends on a system of tastes and distastes that are both historical – depending on individuals' social and educational background – and relational – depending on the individual's relative position within the trading room viewed as a field.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Godechot, 2016. "Back in the bazaar: taking Pierre Bourdieu to a trading room," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01295776, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-01295776
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2015.1116461
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01295776v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zaloom, Caitlin, 2006. "Out of the Pits," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226978130, Febrero.
    2. Daniel Beunza & David Stark, 2004. "Tools of the trade: the socio-technology of arbitrage in a Wall Street trading room," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 13(2), pages 369-400, April.
    3. Catherine Aaron & Sébastien Galanti & Yamina Tadjeddine, 2004. "La gestion collective dans un marché agité : la dynamique des styles à partir des cartes de Kohonen," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 114(4), pages 507-526.
    4. Horacio Ortiz, 2014. "The Limits of Financial Imagination: Free Investors, Efficient Markets, and Crisis," Post-Print hal-00966544, HAL.
    5. Fabian Muniesa, 2000. "Un robot walrasien : cotation électronique et justesse de la découverte des prix," Post-Print halshs-00087467, HAL.
    6. Olivier Godechot, 2008. "Stratégies financières autour d'une table," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 144-156.
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    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ff88coju39nk8b11b5ghfc1ff is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Olivier Godechot, 2019. "Conclusion: What finance manufactures," Post-Print hal-03393812, HAL.
    3. Liliana Doganova & Martin Giraudeau & Hans Kjellberg & Claes-Fredrik Helgesson & Francis Lee & Alexandre Mallard & Andrea Mennicken & Fabian Muniesa & Ebba Sjögren & Teun Zuiderent-Jerak, 2018. "Five years! Have we not had enough of valuation studies by now?," Post-Print halshs-01935355, HAL.
    4. Michel Callon & Alvin E. Roth, 2021. "The design and performation of markets: a discussion," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(3), pages 219-239, December.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ff88coju39nk8b11b5ghfc1ff is not listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Finance; Rationality; Field theory; Habitus; Class;
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