The 2007 financial crisis: strategic actors and processes of construction of a concrete system

• DOI: 10.1007/s10997-011-9185-2
• Publication Date: 2011-07-18T19:57:52Z
• Authors: Gemma Carolillo; Piero Mastroberar...; Claudio Nigro
• Keywords: Securitization

The recent financial and economic crisis, defined “a once in a century credit tsunami” by former President of Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has produced relevant damages in all economic sectors, making many people much poorer. For this reason, many scientific contributions have addressed the causes of the crisis, focusing mostly on the ‘bad practices’ in lending and credit securitization procedures as well as in corporate governance mechanisms ruling the banking system. Our work is based on an organizational perspective and it reviews the crisis under a theoretical model that combines the political and new institutionalist studies, in order to show evidence of the intense network of relationships and interests underlying the financial system government. In doing so, we identify the key players acting as institutional entrepreneurs that, levering on their resources and power, have contributed to construct and reshape the institutional framework—normative and symbolic—ruling the so called Great Moderation period.