Diversifying finance research: From financialization to sustainability

• Published in: International review of financial analysis 2015-05, Vol.39, p.1-6
• Main Author: Lagoarde-Segot, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Discourse analysis; Diversification; Economics and Finance; Epistemology; Finance; Humanities and Social Sciences; Ontology; Portfolio diversification; Social sciences; Studies; Sustainability
• ISSN: 1057-5219; 1873-8079
• DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2015.01.004

This paper seeks to overcome the apparent contradictions between global demand for sustainability and the structure of conventional financial discourse by putting forth a strategy for diversifying academic finance. It comprises four sections. I first situate academic finance within the broader spectrum of social sciences and highlight its ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. Second, I show that these assumptions, taken for granted within the field of finance, are the object of much debate within other fields – as is demonstrated by controversy regarding logical positivism, social ontology and performativity – which brings out the limitations of paradigmatic unity in finance. Third, I characterize diversification in finance with reference to the nested epistemological structure of scientific discourse. I argue that diversification is a process by which (i) finance research is extended to other existing paradigms in social sciences; (ii) new research metaphors are developed within the current paradigm; and (iii) puzzle-solving robustness is achieved. Fourth, I develop a research agenda for the diversification of academic finance. This agenda is broken down into themes, paradigmatic hypotheses, and research questions. •The ongoing crisis calls for a reconsideration of financial theory•I put forth a strategy for diversifying academic finance I identify a set of promising research themes•I identify a set of promising research themes for future diversification of academic finance