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Problems arose in the “market for information” (MFI) during the “dot.com” boom, the Enron case, Northern Rock failure and during the great financial crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009. This paper aims to extend the understanding of the MFI through field research and theoretical sources. It also aims to understand the MFI during relatively stable periods and during periods of rapid change, crisis and failure. It seeks to use these insights to propose changes to reduce the possibilities for negative change and problems in the MFI.

Field studies are used to develop an “empirical narrative” for ongoing MFI structures, processes and outcomes during relatively stable periods. The paper develops a “theoretical narrative” to extend the understanding of the MFI empirical insights.

The paper reveals that the MFI structure that includes knowledge and social context is central to ongoing MFI economic processes for MFI agents. Outcomes include changes in markets, firms and others. Changes and problems are means to understand interactions between the MFI social structure, knowledge, actions and outcomes as they rendered visible the previously invisible issues.

The paper shows that a coherent combination of new empirical narrative and theoretical narrative is essential to develop a critical stance, new policy prescriptions and new regulations to deal with problems and changes in the MFI. This provides the frame to propose changes in the “world of knowledge” and in (concentrated and elite) social and economic structures in the MFI. It proposes: making explicit shared knowledge in the MFI, monitoring change processes and promoting active formal learning.

The paper aims to rethink empirical models and theory used in explaining banks and financial institutions (FIs) and to enhance the process of theory construction. This is a provisional response to Colander et al. (2009) and Gendron and Smith-Lacroix’s (2013) call for a new approach to developing theory for finance and FIs.

An embryonic “behavioural theory of the financial firm” (BTFF) is outlined based on field research about banks and FI firms and relevant literature. The paper explores “conceptual connections” between BTFF and traditional finance theory ideas of financial intermediation. It does not seek to “integrate” finance theory and alternative theory in “meta theory” and has a more modest aim to improve theory content through “connections”.

The “conceptual connections” provide a means to develop ideas proposed by Scholtens and van Wensveen (2003). They are part of a “house with windows” intended to provide systematic means to “take data from the outside world” whilst continuously recognising “the complexities of the context” (Keasey and Hudson, 2007) to both challenge and build the core ideas of FT.

The BTFF is a means to create “conversations” between academics, practitioners and regulators to aid theory construction. This can overcome the limitations of such an embryonic theory.

The ideas developed create new opportunities to develop finance theory, propose changes in banks and FIs and suggest changes in the focus of regulation.

Regulators can use the expanded conceptual framework to encourage theory development and to enhance accountability of banks and FIs to citizens.

Corporate financial communications concern public and private disclosure (Holland, 2005). This paper aims to explain how banks developed financial communications and how problems emerged in the global financial crisis. It explores policy responses.

Bank cases reveal construction and destruction of the social, knowledge and economic world of financial communications over two periods.

In the 1990s, learning about financial communications by a “dominant coalition” (Cyert, March, 1963) in bank top management was stimulated by gradual change. The management learnt how to accumulate social and cultural capital and developed “habitus” for disclosure (Bourdieu, 1986). From 2000, rapid change and secrecy factors accelerated bank internalisation of shareholder wealth maximising values, turning “habitus” in “market for information” (MFI) (Barker, 1998) into a “psychic prison” (Morgan,1986), creating riskier bank cultures (Schein, 2004) and constraining learning.

The paper introduces sociological concepts to banking research and financial disclosures to increase the understanding about financial information and bank culture and about how regulation can avoid crises. Limitations reflect the small number of banks and range of qualitative data.

Regulators will have to make visible the change processes, new contexts and knowledge and connections to bank risk and performance through improved regulator action and bank public disclosure.

“Masking” and rituals (Andon and Free, 2012) restricted bank disclosure and weakened governance and market pressures on banks. These factors mediated bank failure and survival in 2008, as “psychic prisons” “fell apart”. Bank and MFI agents experienced a “cosmology episode” (Weick, 1988). Financial communications structures failed but were reconstructed by regulators.

The paper shows how citizens require transparency and contested accountability to democratise finance capitalism. Otherwise, problems will recur.

This paper, which is published in two parts, is concerned with ‘behind the scenes’ self‐regulation by companies and financial institutions (FIs) relative to the ‘Dissemination of price sensitive information’ guidelines outlined in the Stock Exchange report of February 1994. This paper, therefore, investigates a private form of self‐regulation outside the more public form of self‐regulation overseen by the Securities and Investments Board (SIB). The common focal points for these private self‐regulation processes are close cooperative relationships between FIs and a large portion of their portfolio companies. In Part I of this paper these relationships are employed as a common base around which to illustrate self‐regulatory processes at the level of individual companies. Part II looks at self‐regulation by UK FIs and the connections between the legal, self‐regulatory and social control mechanisms are explored and new directions for research and regulation proposed. The second part of this paper will be published in the next issue of Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance.

This paper, which is published in two parts, is concerned with ‘behind the scenes’ self‐regulation by companies and financial institutions (FIs) relative to the guidelines on ‘Dissemination of price sensitive information’ outlined in a Stock Exchange (SE) report in February 1994. This paper therefore, investigates a private form of self‐regulation outside the more public form overseen by the Securities and Investments Board (SIB). The common focal points for these private self‐regulation processes are close cooperative relationships between FIs and a large proportion of their portfolio companies. In Part I, published in the previous issue of the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, these relationships were employed as a common base around which to illustrate self‐regulatory processes at the level of individual companies. Part II looks at self‐regulation by UK FIs and the connections between the legal, self‐regulatory and social control mechanisms are explored and new directions for research and regulation proposed.

This paper aims to reflect on the nature of “parkrun tourism” and the challenges this presents to the understanding of sports tourism.

The contradictions and contested terrain of sports tourism is discussed with the reference to three of the most widely used definitions for the field.

Parkrun tourism is introduced comprising four formats: spanning the domestic and global; the informal and formal; the organic and institutional; and the experience and commercial product.

The particular challenges that parkrun tourism presents to existing understandings of sports tourism is considered. The conclusion discusses the prospect of future research, both empirical and theoretical, on parkrun tourism.

The authors outline a range of ways in which parkrun tourism affords opportunity for further inquiry for parkrun scholarship and sports tourism.

A new specification for sports tourism is proposed that accommodates parkrun tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the evaluation model of the enterprises' technological innovation system, based on the theory of complex adaptive system.

Combined with the status quo and recent studies of Chinese enterprises' technological innovation, the paper discusses the complex‐system features of the technological innovation. The stimulus‐response model is used to establish the two‐level framework for enterprises' technological innovation system. By means of the adaptive fitness function, the economic and social utility of enterprises' technological innovation is measured from two dimensions. Finally, the fuzzy catastrophe model is introduced to evaluate the enterprises' technological innovation.

The enterprises' technological innovation system has attributions of the subject aggregation, the systematic openness, nonlinearity and diversity. Thus, the macro‐micro based technological innovation system from the perspective of complex adaptive system is proposed. The system utility is considered based on the system subjects and system structure, and the calculation framework of the adaptive fitness for the whole system is obtained by considering the emergent property describing the system scale effect and structure effect. In fact, the fuzzy theory can well reflect the influential situation that the interactions between different factors may cause the mutation of the higher level and the interactions between enterprises can lead to the shifts of the system.

The paper proposes the complex adaptive system for the enterprises' technological innovation based on the special macro environment in China. A new framework for the research of technological innovation is provided by analyzing the system inner model. Fuzzy catastrophe model can reduce the evaluation irrationality due to the subjective index weights.

Human resource (HR) practices are increasingly concerned with adding value through increased skills, autonomy and contribution. Whilst useful in some cultural and industry contexts, there is potential for incompatibility with other norms, especially those outside western culture or the manufacturing industry mainstream. Australian construction companies in Malaysia use the language of normative HR, but they are challenged by the differing cultural norms of Asia. It is concluded that HR policies and corporate culture are used as marketing devices not solely as management strategy.

This chapter applies three of the most prominent theories in vocational and career psychology to further illuminate the turnover process. Prevailing theories about attrition have rarely integrated explanatory constructs from vocational research, though career (and job) choices clearly have implications for employee affect and loyalty to a chosen job in a career field. Despite remarkable inroads by new perspectives for explaining turnover, career, and vocational formulations can nonetheless enrich these – and conventional – formulations about why incumbents stay or leave their jobs. To illustrate, vocational theories can help clarify why certain shocks (critical events precipitating thoughts of leaving) drive attrition and what embeds incumbents. In particular, this chapter reviews Super's life-span career theory, Holland's career model, and social cognitive career theory and describes how they can fill in theoretical gaps in the understanding of organizational withdrawal.