Institutionalization in Efficient Markets: The Case of Price Bubbles

Abstract

We seek to deepen understanding of the micro-foundations of institutionalization while contributing to a sociological theory of markets by investigating the puzzle of price bubbles in financial markets. We find that such markets, despite textbook conditions of high efficiency -- perfect information, atomistic agents, no uncertainty -- quickly develop patterns consistent with institutionalization processes.

Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (2008)