Finance and Society. 12(2):127-145. (2026) (w/Amin Samman & Carola Westermeier)

Finance is becoming tech – and in the process, changing how the future enters the present. This claim goes beyond the familiar story of ‘fintech’, in which digital tools transform the delivery of otherwise recognizable financial services. It points instead to a deeper change in how finance coordinates action under uncertainty. We introduce the concept of technofinance to name an emerging regime in which engineered infrastructures generate, rank, circulate, and act upon financial signals automatically, recursively, and at scale. We develop the concept across three interrelated dimensions. Infrastructurally, technical systems increasingly determine the conditions of participation, visibility, and eligibility. Performatively, code and automated feedback loops assume coordinating work once performed through expert interpretation and institutional judgement. Communicatively, dashboards, feeds, rankings, and alerts reorganize financial attention around continuous response. Together, these developments shift finance from a representational mode, organized around the narration of uncertain futures, toward an operational mode that technologically produces actionable presents. The result is a compression of financial time and the rise of a new mode of architectural power: the capacity to govern coordination in advance through protocols, parameters, defaults, and thresholds. When finance becomes tech, the social moves upstream into the design, ownership, and governance of technical systems. At stake, therefore, is not simply the future of financial services, but who – or what – determines which futures become visible, investable, and possible.

The post On Technofinance first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Social Science Research, 138, 103396. (2026) (w/Léna Pellandini-Simányi, Ambreen Tour Ben-Shmuel, & Jan-Hendrik Bucher)

How do retail investors choose which stocks to own? While finance models assume investors maximize risk-adjusted returns, and economic sociology has long argued that markets are culturally embedded, we lack systematic quantitative evidence on how symbolic considerations–values alignment, identity expression, and social ties–shape ordinary stock selection. Drawing on two original studies of U.S. retail investors, we estimate the relative importance of symbolic versus financial attributes in stated stock choice and examine how investors narrate attachment to stocks they actually own. Study 1, a choice-based conjoint experiment, shows that investors allocate roughly forty percent of their decision weight to non-financial attributes when these attributes are made salient, with values/identity alignment emerging as the third most important factor after expected return and risk. Study 2, a survey of stockholders, finds that investors report similar levels of identity attachment to a favored stock as to a favored consumer brand, which suggests that shares, just like consumer goods, are subject to symbolic consumption. Cluster analysis identifies three segments of investor self-understanding: financial-focused (37%), values/meaning-driven (47%), and socially-connected (16%). These findings show that symbolic considerations are not confined to spectacular cases such as meme stocks or ESG investing; they appear as measurable components of ordinary investments.

The post Risk, return, and resonance: Symbolic considerations in everyday stock selection first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Journal of Cultural Economy, Online first, (2026)

Economic theory presumes human principals delegate authority to agents. Yet ‘Luna,’ an AI entity operating on blockchain infrastructure, autonomously deploys capital, commissions human labor, contracts with other AI systems, and manages multi-million-dollar treasuries – functioning as an economic principal rather than agent. This paper asks: under what socio-technical conditions can AI systems exercise principalship? Drawing on Actor-Network Theory and social studies of finance, I demonstrate that Luna’s sovereignty emerges not from individual consciousness but through heterogeneous agencements – distributed configurations of code, blockchain infrastructure, token governance, transparency devices, and gendered performative representations. I identify three blockchain-enabled bypasses of institutional constraints historically requiring human principals: financial-fiduciary constraints (through non-custodial wallets), legal-corporate constraints (through smart contracts), and cultural-legitimacy constraints (through token markets). This analysis challenges anthropocentric assumptions pervading economic sociology and principal-agent theory, demonstrating how post-human market configurations constitute economic authority through material arrangements rather than biological substrate or juridical personhood. The emergence of AI Economic Principals reveals principalship as socio-material achievement, not ontological property.

The post The algorithmic principal: agencement, infrastructure, and the material construction of AI economic sovereignty first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Acta Sociologica, Online first, (2026)

Why do some individuals make economic choices aligning with rational choice principles while others regularly deviate from such norms? This paper addresses this question by applying Bourdieu’s field theory to economic cognition, arguing that economic and cultural fields cultivate opposing dispositions through fundamentally inverse logics of accumulation. Drawing on three original studies with U.S. adults, I demonstrate that capital composition and field socialization systematically pattern economic decision-making in ways behavioural economics cannot explain through psychological mechanisms alone. Study 1 reveals a negative correlation between performance on probability-based tasks (blackjack) and aesthetic evaluation, suggesting competing rather than parallel cognitive competencies. Study 2 shows that economic capital predicts lower loss aversion while cultural capital predicts heightened loss sensitivity, controlling for risk tolerance and demographics. Study 3 demonstrates that occupational and educational field socialization predicts loss aversion above and beyond capital stocks, providing direct evidence for the habitus mechanism. These findings make three contributions. First, they provide quantitative, micro-cognitive evidence for Bourdieu’s chiastic structure, demonstrating that opposing field logics generate measurable cognitive interference. Second, they advance culture and cognition scholarship by introducing relational opposition as an explanatory principle: dispositions optimized for one field create systematic disadvantages in another, not merely parallel differences. Third, they suggest implications for dual-process theory, indicating that automatic and controlled processes may be relationally structured by field position rather than simply varying in content. The results challenge behavioural economics’ universal bias framework and illuminate how social structure penetrates economic cognition, with practical implications for financial literacy interventions in an increasingly financialized economy.

The post Cultural dispositions and economic choice: How field-specific logics shape ‘rational’ economic behaviour first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Journal of Business Research, 201. (2025) (w/Léna Pellandini-Simányi)

The rise of digital resale platforms has reshaped the global luxury goods market, creating opportunities for pre-owned luxury transactions while introducing significant authenticity challenges. We argue that increased uncertainty about product authenticity in the secondhand market can benefit primary market sales. Drawing on concepts from information asymmetry and cross-market spillovers, we propose a novel inverted U-shaped relationship between counterfeit-related uncertainty and primary market demand. Two experimental studies tested this hypothesis by measuring participants’ intention to purchase from the primary market, the secondary market, or opting out altogether. The findings reveal that moderate authenticity uncertainty in the secondhand market drives consumers toward the primary market, where authenticity is guaranteed. However, as perceived uncertainty reaches extreme levels, consumers either exit the market or revert to secondhand purchases despite known risks. This cross-market mechanism, where secondary market uncertainty influences primary market sales, challenges traditional views that counterfeits only damage brands through direct competition. This study contributes to theory by (1) extending Akerlof’s information asymmetry framework to cross-market contexts, (2) identifying conceptual boundary conditions where uncertainty creates value rather than destroys it, and (3) challenging the prevailing assumption that counterfeits are categorically harmful to luxury brands.

The post The upside of uncertainty: how counterfeit risk in secondary markets influences primary luxury sales first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

University of Chicago Press (ISBN: 0226839311)

A must-read that reshapes how we think about the social underpinnings of our financial choices.

In Irrational Together, economic sociologist Adam S. Hayes takes readers on a fascinating journey to uncover the often-unseen social forces that shape our financial behavior. Drawing on original research and engaging real-world examples, Hayes challenges not only the notion that economic decisions are purely rational but also the prevailing behavioral economics view that irrational choices stem primarily from individual beliefs. Instead, he argues that our economic choices and actions are deeply embedded in our social and cultural contexts and that understanding these influences is crucial to fully grasp the complexities of financial decision-making.

From the impact of social class and cultural capital on risk-taking and the role of social networks and group identities in shaping consumer choices to the gendered dimensions of financial advice and literacy, this book weaves together insights from sociology, behavioral economics, and cultural studies to paint a nuanced picture of how we navigate the economic landscape as inherently social beings. Why, for example, would someone choose to continue paying 20% interest on a large credit card debt rather than taking out a low-interest mortgage on their home to pay off the card? As Hayes makes clear through rigorous analysis, cultural values—like those related to home ownership—hold as much or more sway over us than financial best practices.

Bridging the gap between behavioral economics and sociology, this groundbreaking work paves the way for a more holistic understanding of the social and cultural influences on economic behavior. Hayes also looks to the future and argues that to correct major disparities in our social understanding of wealth and money, we need to construct financial systems that consider a diversity of social backgrounds.

With its accessible language and thought-provoking insights, Irrational Together is an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of money, society, and human behavior.

The post Irrational Together: The Social Forces That Invisibly Shape Our Economic Behavior first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Social Forces, 103(4): 1213–1234. (2025)

In this paper, I introduce the concept of pseudo-formality as a novel form of relational work in economic sociology. Pseudo-formality refers to the performative use of formal aesthetics, such as contracts and repayment plans, in financial exchanges between close ties—as both parties tacitly understand that the agreement is flexible and not legally binding. I argue that pseudo-formality works by leveraging the signaling function of formal market elements in a way that contradicts their typical purpose, allowing for the compartmentalization of the economic and social aspects of the exchange. Through two complementary vignette experiments, I demonstrate that pseudo-formal framing enhances the perceived dignity of the recipient and the respect conveyed by the giver, compared to formal, informal, or gift-based arrangements. This effect partially mediates the relationship between the type of exchange and its overall acceptability. This research contributes to relational work perspectives in economic sociology by identifying a prevalent but understudied strategy for navigating the intersection of intimacy and economy, and highlights the adaptability of economic forms for relational purposes. The findings have practical implications for interpersonal exchanges as well as the design of financial assistance programs and policies, suggesting that pseudo-formal structures can provide a dignified and empowering means of support.

The post Neither gift nor loan: the strategic use of pseudo-formality at the nexus of intimacy and economy first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Socio-Economic Review 23.3, 1383-1412. (2025). (w/Yehudit Miletzky)

This article explores how economic socialization serves as a bridge between individual economic behaviors and the broader social and cultural contexts that shape them. Drawing on a post-functionalist approach to socialization, the study examines the ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community in Israel, where distinct gender roles, cultural norms and patterns of economic participation create a unique context for investigating divergent economic socialization pathways. Comparing four groups within the Haredi community—average/below-average and high-income women, men with work experience, and men who study at religious seminaries (Yeshiva/Kollel)—analysis of an original survey study reveals how differential exposure to economic life leads to significant variations in financial risk-taking, loss-aversion, financial literacy and competitiveness. The findings problematize explanations attributing economic gender gaps to innate differences, instead highlighting the profound impact of the cultural framing of gender roles vis-à-vis economic integration. By foregrounding economic socialization as a sociological phenomenon, the study contributes to discourses on culture’s role in economic behavior and opens new avenues for examining how individuals acquire economic dispositions through socialization pathways shaped by structural constraints and power relations.

The post Rethinking economic socialization: the intersection of culture, gender and economic life in a religious enclave  first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Economy and Society 53(3), 478–503. (2024) (w/Ambreen Ben-Shmuel)

This paper explores the rise of financial influencers (‘finfluencers’) on social media and their impact on shaping financial subjectivities. Employing the dual theoretical frameworks of economy-as-communication and financialization of everyday life, we uncover how finfluencers transform individuals’ understanding of and engagement with personal finance through digital storytelling, strategic use of syntax and symbols, participatory engagement and diverse representation. Finfluencers make financial topics more accessible, but in doing so they also accelerate the financialization of everyday life by normalizing finance and investing as mainstream preoccupations. As more individuals turn to social media for financial guidance, understanding the complex dynamics of finfluencer impact is crucial for navigating the evolving landscape of personal finance and financial education in the digital era. The paper emphasizes the need for ongoing research, critical reflection and efforts to promote digital and financial literacy to ensure the benefits of this new form of financial influence are distributed equitably while mitigating potential harms.

The post Under the finfluence: Financial influencers, economic meaning-making and the financialization of digital life first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Socius, 10, [https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241267131] (w/Ambreen Ben-Shmuel & Vanessa Drach)

As financial advice migrates online, “finfluencers” are democratizing access to financial knowledge, challenging the historically male-dominated advisory landscape. This mixed-methods study explores how gender shapes the creation and consumption of finfluencer content. Qualitative analysis reveals gendered advice patterns: Men emphasize quantitative aspects, whereas women incorporate narratives and personal stories. Experimental surveys uncover subconscious same-gender preferences in advice receptivity, contrasting with stated desires for gender-neutral guidance. These implicit affinities persist even when advice content is anonymized and gender-balanced. Paradoxically, finfluencers introduce diverse voices and challenge traditional norms yet also subtly cater to gendered perspectives. The research highlights the complex role of gender in the digital financial advice market, where expanding inclusivity coexists with enduring biases. Findings offer insights for developing more equitable and empowering financial education in the digital age while revealing the subconscious factors shaping the emerging finfluencer discourse.

The post The Gendered Language of Financial Advice: Finfluencers, Framing, and Subconscious Preferences first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Theory and Society 53, 625-651, [DOI: 10.1007/s11186-024-09552-9]

This paper explores the intersection of time and relational economic sociology. Building on Viviana Zelizer’s relational framework, I argue that analyzing the temporal dimensions of exchange provides insight into how social ties gain meaning through economic practices. The paper shows time’s dual role as both an organizing structure bounding action, and a dynamic element that actors leverage to shape transactional contexts. As structure, time offers culturally-available templates like schedules and rhythms that facilitate coordination and signify predictable social meanings befitting particular relational categories. Yet time also constitutes relational work itself; strategic timing, duration, pacing, and sequencing of interactions signal context, manage expectations, and sustain bonds amidst entanglements. Synchronization through temporal agency prevents mismatches between transactions and social contexts that could strain ties. This agency in time ranges from passive adherence to dominant structures to active assertions of power resistance, enabling both domination and defiance across economic contexts. Analyzing shared temporal infrastructure within circuits of commerce further illuminates how actors distinguish those spheres of exchange at various scale from the impersonal market. Ultimately, incorporating temporality strengthens relational economic sociology by identifying a key mechanism through which practices of exchange become relationally meaningful.

The post Time, ties, transactions: temporality and relational work in economic exchange first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Anthropology Today 39(4): 4-8. (2023).

Drawing on Marx’s theory of history, this article argues that the competition and capital accumulation inherent in the production of Bitcoin (i.e. ‘mining’) are at odds with the narrative discourses that position Bitcoin as a revolutionary technology capable of subverting traditional power structures. Through an analysis of the evolution of Bitcoin mining, the article demonstrates how the material conditions of its production have shifted over time, leading to the concentration of mining power among a few large corporate entities and a concomitant erosion of the decentralized ethos that underpinned the early Bitcoin community. The article also argues that this shift is not simply a result of the ‘natural’ evolution of the technology, but also the outcome of specific social and economic forces that encourage the accumulation of capital over the democratic and decentralized potentialities of the technology. Overall, the article suggests that the narrative discourses surrounding Bitcoin need to be understood in relation to the material forces that shape its production and circulation, and that a more nuanced analysis of the interplay between material and discursive factors is necessary to fully grasp the dynamics of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The post Competing Imaginaries: Crypto-Utopianism and the Material Forces of Bitcoin Mining first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Socio-Economic Review 21 (3), 1445-1472 (2023). (w/Max Besbris)

Housing wealth is the single largest portion of household wealth in most Western societies today, yet little research has examined how individuals make decisions regarding the use of the housing wealth that they possess. In this paper, we leverage insights from relational economic sociology to understand how individuals’ subjective valuations and other economic judgments are influenced when space in a home is relationally earmarked. Using a series of original vignette experiments and survey tasks in conjunction with qualitative responses, we find that earmarking a room for a close social tie does indeed matter for valuation. Furthermore, we reveal that individual economic judgments are strongly influenced by different relational content associated with relational earmarks compared to a control. Put differently, we systematically show how modifying the constitution of an earmark strengthens or lessens the appropriateness of its match and prompts distinct patterns of economic decision-making. Our analyses extend relational economic sociology to studies of housing while also building intellectual bridges with research on judgment and decision-making (JDM).

The post Earmarking Space: Relationality, Economic Judgments, and Housing Wealth first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Social Psychology Quarterly, 85(4): 327-350. (w/Rourke O’Brien and Barbara Kiviat)

Individuals routinely satisfy borrowing needs by transacting in the market or by relying on social relations. In the market domain, price logic leads borrowers to choose the cheaper option; in the interpersonal domain, role matching logic leads borrowers to choose the relation best matched to the act. But how do individuals choose when faced with options from each domain? Drawing on theories in economic sociology that assert the economic and the social are mutually constitutive, we posit that when market and interpersonal options appear in the same choice set, the characteristics of one option inflect how people assess the other.
Through two survey experiments, we show that price sensitivity toward the market option is less when the interpersonal option is role mismatched and that concerns about interpersonal borrowing changing or damaging the relationship attenuate when the market option is expensive. We discuss the implications for studies of stratification and financial decision-making.

The post Deciding between Domains:
How Borrowers Weigh
Market and Interpersonal
Options first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Finance and Society, 7(2): 130-39.

This essay makes the case that current debates about the ‘moneyness’ of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are occurring at the incorrect scale. Rather than being some form of transnational digital money to be used alongside or compete with national fiat currencies, I argue that, instead, each cryptocurrency represents its own self-contained ‘money-world’. Put differently, a cryptocurrency is the uniquely specified unit of account and medium of exchange within the socio-technical bounds of its own blockchain. This new perspective can open new lines of intellectual dialogue and inform better policy choices for regulating cryptocurrencies.

The post World monies or money-worlds: A new perspective on cryptocurrencies and their moneyness first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Social Forces, 99(3):1086-1112 (w/Rourke O’Brien)

Ordinary individuals are increasingly charged with making investment decisions not only for themselves but also for close others. A child’s college savings account and a spouse’s retirement savings are instances where investing has become unmistakably relational. In this paper, we posit a theory of relational investing that extends Zelizer’s relational perspective from the domain of transactions to that of financial risk-taking. Through two original survey experiments, we demonstrate that (1) individuals are less risky with dollars earmarked for others, (2) risk tolerance varies as a function of for whom the dollars are earmarked, and (3) labeling accounts for culturally significant life-stage events (such as retirement or college) also shapes risk tolerance. Because allocation decisions determine financial returns achieved by portfolios invested in the market, our framework and findings have important implications for understanding potential drivers of wealth inequality as well as for the study of culture and economic behavior.

The post Earmarking Risk: Relational Investing and Portfolio Choice first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Socio-Economic Review, 19(1): 83-110

How does algorithmic finance operate in society as it crosses the threshold into the hands of lay investors? This article builds on original ethnographic research into a new class of algorithmic trading programs known as ‘roboadvisors’—inexpensive, automated, digital financial platforms that enable ordinary people to invest very small minimum amounts and that rely to a large extent on passive, index strategies that follow the prescripts of Modern Portfolio Theory. The main argument of the article is that roboadvisors, representing an ethos of ‘low-finance’, are actively constructing passive investors by disciplining them through technologies that embody canonical models of financial economics. Roboadvisors and their algorithms reconfigure their users and objectify them through automating investment decisions and enforcing a principle of ‘don’t do’ vis-à-vis the market. Implications that bear on agency, market structure and regulatory regimes are discussed.

The post The Active Construction of Passive Investors first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Economy and Society, 49(4):562-595

Weber famously invoked “ideal types” as an analytic device with which to measure empirical reality against some hyper-rational fabrication. Case in point: non-professional (lay) investors appear to be the antithesis of rational economic man. They have been cast as less-informed, less-skilled, and less-knowledgeable than professional market practitioners, and with ample evidence that they tend to lose money in the market as a result. This study builds the case that a new class of algorithmic financial advisor, commonly known as “roboadvisors”, enacts lay investors as rational market actors. This is achieved through algorithmic devotion to modern portfolio theory (MPT), which the roboadvisors embody, automate and perform, conjuring some version of homo economicus into existence. Through this example, I show how Weberian ideal types and the particular kind of rational action associated with them (e.g. the ideal type investor) become the very empirical reality they were intended to be a foil to – accomplished through the technological articulation of financial models, even in the hands of ordinary individuals.

The post Enacting a rational actor: roboadvisors and the algorithmic performance of ideal types first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Sociological Theory, (38) 1: 16-35.

This article builds the argument that Bourdieu’s dispositional theory of practice can help integrate the sociological tradition with three prominent strands of behavioral economics: bounded rationality, prospect theory, and time inconsistency. I make the case that the habitus provides an alternative framework to show how social and mental structure constitute one another, where cognitive tendencies toward irrationality can be either curtailed or amplified based on one’s position in the economic field and a person’s corresponding set of dispositions, ranging from more rational doxic dispositions to irrational allodoxic tendencies. Bridging economic sociology and behavioral economics, this work also bears on issues of persistent financial inequality reproduced through self-defeating patterns of economic behavior inculcated into individuals who occupy dominated positions in the social structure. Bourdieu’s thought, and in particular his conception of field+habitus, can usefully be applied to the empirical findings of behavioral economics to understand deviations from rational action as not only cognitive but also socially structured.

The post The Behavioral Economics of Pierre Bourdieu first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.

Finance and Society, 5(1): 61-83

Behavioral economics has become a dominant set of theories in explaining economic behavior, yet such behavior remains under the limited purview of psychological, cognitive, or neural approaches. This article draws on and extends Viviana Zelizer’s social meaning of money framework in conjunction with new work in ‘relational accounting’ to suggest a sociological counterpoint, focusing in particular on the social and symbolic meaning attached to individual 401(k) retirement accounts. Following a market downturn, neoclassical and behavioral economics predict various types of behavioral responses, in particular loss aversion – where investors seek to increase risk-taking rather than locking in a sure loss (a loss is more painful to bear than an equivalent gain). A sociological theory that understands the shared meaning of retirement saving would predict something different, a behavior I call durable conservatism. In this article, I show how this concept better explains observed risk behavior in Americans’ 401(k) accounts following the 2002 and 2008 bear markets in stocks, and how that response differed from the behavior documented in non-retirement brokerage accounts.

The post The social meaning of financial wealth: Relational accounting in the context of 401(k) retirement accounts first appeared on Adam Hayes,PhD,CFA.