Banking Industry Regulation and Strategic Action Fields: a research agenda for Economic Sociology.

This paper examines the evolution of the regulation of the banking industry in the EU after the global financial crisis of 2008. It proposes to analyze the sector as a strategic action field, embedded in a web of fields and where participants differ in their power and influence. The analysis is focused in two policies implemented under the new European regulation, the limitation of the variable remuneration and the introduction of diversity quotas. It follows the policy making mechanism, from the scientific discussion about whether these measures improve the performance of organizations to the adoption of policies that close all controversies in a black box, following ideas developed in the Social Studies of Science (SSS). This inquiry, albeit modest, suggest that a deeper understanding of the regulation of the banking industry could be gained following an approach that combines Strategic Action Fields Theory and Social Studies of Science.