Sieves and lenses : essays on the role of categories in social valuation

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
Systems of classification are pervasive and consequential in economic life, as they are in the social world more generally. Membership in socially defined categories, such as industries or genres, constitutes a core part of an organization's identity, and, as such, profoundly impacts how the organization, its products and actions are evaluated. This dissertation includes three essays that analyze the ways in which similar actions in market settings are interpreted and assessed quite differently depending on the categorical identity of the performer. The first essay introduces the idea that categories of organizations (e.g., industries) differ in status and that status differences at the category level influence the social standing of individual members of the category. The second essay tests and finds support for the idea that category status impacts the way in which an organization's actions are perceived and evaluated. In particular, I find that earnings restatements from members of high-status categories are viewed less negatively than those from lower-status categories. Finally, the third essay, co-authored with Ming Leung, provides evidence of an audience-driven penalty for multiple-category membership in markets.

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic; electronic resource; remote
Extent 1 online resource.
Copyright date 2011
Publication date 2010, c2011; 2010
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Associated with Sharkey, Amanda Jean
Associated with Stanford University, Department of Sociology.
Primary advisor Hannan, Michael
Primary advisor Sorensen, Jesper B, 1967-
Thesis advisor Hannan, Michael
Thesis advisor Sorensen, Jesper B, 1967-
Thesis advisor Correll, Shelley Joyce
Advisor Correll, Shelley Joyce

Subjects

Genre Theses

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Amanda Jean Sharkey.
Note Submitted to the Department of Sociology.
Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2011
Location electronic resource

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2011 by Amanda Jean Sharkey
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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