From performativity to "socially embedded market devices" : The case of the Exchange Traded Funds market

This article studies the construction and development of the market for Exchange Traded Funds in France between 2000 and 2009. Building on a longitudinal qualitative study of the French ETF market, we present the multiple regulatory and institutional challenges that had to be tackled before ETFs could meet success in France. We analyze the product itself as a collection of detached and reattached entities and show that those market devices are not neutral techniques. Rather, they are used within power relation to convince reluctant parties. This article emphasizes the role played by the promotion of these products and argues that market devices are socially embedded.