Nor did the social structure of the Chicago exchanges cease to matter once the International Monetary Market and Chicago Board Options Exchange became large and successful (by 1978, more than 100,000 options contracts, each corresponding to 100 shares, were traded on an average day on the latter).' Baker (1981; 1984a,b) examined the pattern of trading and the behavior of prices in two options trading "crowds," one large and one small. After taking account of the volatility of the underlying stocks, Baker found that contrary to standard economic predictions, option prices were more volatile in the larger crowd, an effect he explained by the tendency of this crowd to fragment into subnetworks when trading was intense.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 692