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

2008年的金融危机导致了全球金融领域的重大调整。这些措施既包括彻底的立法改革，也包括具体的银行业重组。十年后的今天，这项由该奖项支持的研究提出了一个重要的问题：这些变化如何影响了金融从业人员的日常做法和价值观？与大多数关于金融的研究不同，这个民族志项目关注的是必须通过其发生全球变化的局部和微观过程。这是一个极其重要的观点，但往往被忽视。在一些地区，银行业危机持续存在。了解那些真正从事金融实践的人的动机和活动是确定金融韧性的基础和避免未来危机的关键部分。这项研究将由耶鲁大学人类学博士生西奥多·帕克在保罗·科克尔曼博士的指导下进行。这位研究人员之所以选择在意大利北部进行这项研究，是因为那里是金融危机持续的一个地方，尽管有针对性的立法，而且意大利的改革有时被认为是美国改革的潜在模式。研究人员将采用比较研究设计收集数据，重点关注两家财富管理公司，其中一家选择了改革并上市，另一家选择维持其早期作为一家地方私营机构的身份。研究人员将重点研究可变的制度结构的影响；立法的影响，特别是欧盟的金融工具市场指令；以及道德话语和实践的差异。研究人群将包括财富经理、基金经理、支持人员、客户和家庭成员。数据将通过混合的人种学方法收集，包括参与者观察、半结构化访谈、生活史映射、调查和焦点小组。这些数据将得到档案研究、相关立法汇编和媒体分析的补充，包括管理人员培训材料和社交媒体。这项研究的结果将与政策制定者、所研究的机构和公众分享。这项研究还将有助于改进金融机构的社会科学理论。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.