Introducing a cultural approach to technology in financial markets

Bibliographic Data

ID2181380
AuthorsC Hardin (0000-0003-4284-0828), Adam Richard Rottinghaus (0000-0003-4976-7627)
Year2015
Volume8
Issue5
Pages547-563
Publication date2015-09-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cultural Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-0350 • E-ISSN: 1753-0369
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17530350.2014.993683
OpenAlexW2169588562
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited35

This paper offers a cultural approach to technology as an alternative to what we see as a prevailing treatment of technology in social studies of finance. This latter treatment, which we refer to as the 'tools of coordination' approach, sees technologies as mediators of market behavior that promote standardization and coordination. While this may be one important function of some technologies, taking a cultural approach to studying financial technologies highlights other important aspects of financial activity - in particular profit making. Instead of focusing primarily on how technologies coordinate market behavior, we focus on how technologies enable profit-making practices, in particular arbitrage. In two different case studies, one examining arbitrage between stock exchanges during the late nineteenth century and the other focusing on contemporary high-frequency trading, we employ the cultural approach to technology. We find that while new technologies do eventually promote greater coordination in fin

Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis · Financial Markets and Investment Strategies · Historical Economic and Social Studies