Showing papers in "American Journal of Sociology in 1994"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the theoretical presuppositions of network analysis and distinguish between three different implicit models in the network literature of the interrelations of social structure, culture, and human agency.
Abstract: Network analysis is one of the most promising currents in sociological research, and yet it has never been subjected to a theoretically informed assessment and critique. This article outlines the theoretical presuppositions of network analysis. It also distinguishes between three different (implicit) models in the network literature of the interrelations of social structure, culture, and human agency. It concludes that only a strategy for historical explanation that synthesizes social structural and cultural analysis can adequately explain the formation, reproduction, and transformation of networks themselves. The article sketches the broad contours of such a theoretical synthesis in the conclusion.
1,928 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that the more a husband relies on his wife for economic support, the less housework he does, and that by doing less household chores, economically dependent husbands also become "dogender."
Abstract: Why does housework remain "women's work"? Some scholars argue that economic dependency comples wives to exchange unpaid labor for a share of the husband's income. Others claim that wives perform housework-and husbands avoid it-to enact symbolically their femininity or masculinity. This article examines both perspectives and finds that among wives the link between housework and the transfer of earnings in marriage complies with rules of economic exchange. However, the more a husband relies on his wife for economic support, the less housework he does. It appears that by doing less housework, economically dependent husbands also "dogender."
1,289 citations
TL;DR: The strength of strict churches is neither a historical coicidence nor a statiscal artifact as discussed by the authors, but rather a natural phenomenon that makes organizations stronger an more attractive because it reduces free riding.
Abstract: The strength of strict churches is neither a historical coicidence nor a statiscal artifact. Strictness makes organizations stronger an more attractive because it reduces free riding. It screens ou...
1,039 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of reputation as an important factor related to the formation of stable exchange relations is examined, and some of the consequences of differences patterns of exchange-in particular, how different exchange conditions lead to different levels of trust among trading partners are investigated.
Abstract: An experiment is used to investigate the effects of uncertainty on pattern of exchange. The role of reputation as an important factor related to the formation of stable exchange relations is examined. In addition, some of the consequences of differences patterns of exchange-in particular, how different exchange conditions lead to different levels of trust among trading partners-are investigated. The results of the experiment indicate significant differences in the level of commitment, concern for one's own and others' reputation, and the level of trust that emerge when uncertainty (in the form of information asymmetries) is varied.
900 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate which of these visions best characterizes the evolution of state-chartered credit unions in New York City from 1914 through 1990 by analyzing the effects of organizational age, size, and population density on rates of organizational failure and growth.
Abstract: One vision of organizational evolution suggests that old and large organizations become increasingly dominant over their environment. A second suggests that as organizations age they become less able to respond to new challenges. In this article the authors investigate which of these visions best characterizes the evolution of state-chartered credit unions in New York City from 1914 through 1990 by analyzing the effects of organizational age, size, and population density on rates of organizational failure and growth. The authors find evidence that old and small institutions are more likely to fail, while young and small organizations have the highest growth rates.
699 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a theory that accounts for these uniformities and discrepancies and propose a method to compara the process of migration across communities, arguing that studies must report and control for the prevalence of migration within communities.
Abstract: Researchers working in Mexican communities have observed both regularities and inconsistencies in the way that transnational migration develops over time. This article presents a theory that accounts for these uniformities and discrepancies and proposes a method to compara the process of migration across communities. It also argues that studies must report and control for the prevalence of migration within communities. Data from 19 Mexican communities show that predicable demographic, social, and economic changes accompany increases in migratory prevalence. Although international migration begins within a narrow range of each community's socioeconomic structure, over time it broadens to incorporate other social groups.
682 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that stereotypes among whites play an important role in explaining their resistance to integrated neighborhoods and concluded that stereotype use links white preferences to discriminatory real estate practices in a way that helps to explain the persistence of segregation in the Detroit area.
Abstract: Two opposing hypotheses seek to explain why black-white residential segreration persists despite open housing laws. One perspective argues that discriminatory practices in the marketing of real estate are responsible. Another view contends that it is the preferences of both blacks and whites for their own neighborhoods that maintain segregation. Using data from the Detroit Area Study of 1976 and 1992, the authors test the hypothesis that stereotypes among whites play an important role in explaining their resistance to integrated neighborhoods. They conclude that stereotype use links white preferences to discriminatory real estate practices in a way that helps to explain the persistence of segregation in the Detroit area.
472 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the sociological literature on the transition from socialism to capitalism and showed that during the transition ex-communist cadres maintain their advantageous position and do especially well in the more dynamic corporate segment.
Abstract: This article reviews the sociological literature on the transition from socialism to capitalism. It distinguishes between the erosion and transition phases and between traditional and corporate segments in the emerging private sector. Panel survey data from Hungary show that during the transition ex-communist cadres maintain their advantageous position and do especially well in the more dynamic corporate segment. They are successful because human capital is important in both capitalism and socialism and because the cadres are able to convert past political power to economic advantage. Contrary to the findings of studies based only on agriculture, the transition increases income inequalities.
442 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a regression model with fixed-effects and national individual-level panel0 data (1966-81) was used to decompose the sex gap in pay, and net positive returns to individuals' education and experience and to occupations' cognitive and physical skills were found.
Abstract: A regression model with fixed-effects and national individual-level panel0 data (1966-81) is used to decompose the sex gap in pay. In accordance with neoclassical predictions from human capital theory, net positive returns to individuals' education and experience and to occupations' cognitive and physical skills are found. While sex differences in experience have large effects on the sex gap skill contributes little to the gap. In accordance with cultural feminist predictions, negative returns to being in an occupation with a higher percentage of females or requiring more nurturant social skill are found. These forms of gendered valuation contribute significantly to the sex gap in pay. In contrast to the neoclassical prediction of compensating differentials, the analysis did not find consistently positive effects for onerous physical conditions, nor did these have much effect on the gap.
436 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that occupancy of brokerage positions in the U.S. health policy domain's communication network is a crucial determinant of influence and conclude that the influence of government organizations is contingent on their capacity to link disparate actors in the communication network while remaining uncommitted to specific policy agendas.
Abstract: This article shows that occupancy of brokerage positions in the U.S. health policy domain's communication network is a crucial determinant of influence. However, the ability to convert structural position into power is contingent on the type of brokerage position occupied and whether the actor is a government organization. In the government sector, actors in representative positions are more influential to the extent that they take public stands on events, whereas liaison and itinerant positions only confer influence if their occupants remain impartial. The article concludess that the influence of government organizations is contingent on their capacity to link disparate actors in the communication network while remaining uncommitted to specific policy agendas.
427 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the sources and consequences of employed wives' perceptions of fairness in the division of housework and found that women who have fewer alternatives to marriage and less economic resources are more likely to view a given division of household chores as fair, while women with more alternatives view the same division as unjust.
Abstract: In spite of employed married women performing approximately twice as much hosework as their husbands, the majority of women believe this situation to be fair This article investigates the sources and consequences of employed wives' perceptions of fairness in the division of housework The findings support a social exchange explanation: women who have fewer alternatives to marriage and less economic resources are more likely to view a given division of housework as fair, while women with more alternatives view the same division as unjust Also, women who perceive an unequal situation as unfair experience lower psychological well-being
TL;DR: The authors examined two micro-level hypotheses about status homogamy: cultural matching hypothesis and economic competition hypothesis, and found that people prefer to marry someone of similar cultural status over someone of high economic status.
Abstract: This study examines two micro-level hypotheses about status homogamy: (1) the cultural matching hypothesis (people prefer to marry someone of similar cultural status) and (2) the economic competition hypothesis (people prefer to marry someone of high economic status). Detailed occupations of newlyweds in the 1970 and 1980 censuses are analyzed. Scales of cultural and economic occupational status are developed, and long-linear models of scaled association are used to analyze 70 x 70 occupational marriage tables. It is found that assortative mating by economic status, the economic dimension of status homogamy is more important when people marry late, and economic stats homogamy has increased between 1970 and 1980 at the expense of cultural status homogamy.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the impact of parental working conditions on both a cognitive child outcome and a social one among a national sample of three- to six-year-old children with employed mothers.
Abstract: This article evaluates the impact of parental working conditions on both a cognitive child outcome and a social one among a national sample of three- to six-year-old children with employed mothers. Current maternal working conditions (i.e., a mother's working conditions at the time of the study) affect verbal facility, but paternal work hours in the early years have significant effects on children's behavior problems. Mother's current occupational complexity interacts with her resources and employment characteristics to influence both cognitive and social outcomes. The conclusion is that adequate parental resources contribute to the forms of family social capital useful in facilitating positive child outcomes, but that conclusions regarding negative effects of maternal work in the child's first year have been overgeneralized.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on married children's financial support for their parents in Taiwan and found that the vast majority of married children, both sons and daughters, provided net financial suppor to their parents during the previous year.
Abstract: This study focuses on married children's financial support for their parents in Taiwan. It is often assumed that economic and social changes accompanying industrialization will drastically weaken parental power and thus reduce the support from adult children to parents. The data in this article, however, show that the vast majority of married children, both sons and daughters, provided net financial suppor for their parents during the previous year. The socioeconomic characteristics of the parents and children in the families where financial transfers occurred indicate that the altruism/corporate group model best portrays intergenerational transactions during the period of rapid economic growth.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how organizational niches within populations influence patterns of competition and mutualism, and find competitive effects of overlap density, the aggregate overlap of a DCC's organizational niche with those of all others, and mutualistic effects of nonoverlap density, which are strongest among neighboring DCCs.
Abstract: Departing from the population-level emphasis of density dependence research in organizational ecology, the authors examine how organizational niches within populations influence patterns of competition and mutualism. Organizational niches characterize intrapopulation variation in productive capacities and resource requirements and are operationalized for a population of day care centers (DCCs) based on the ages of children they are licensed to enroll. The authors find competitive effects of overlap density, the aggregate overlap of a DCC's organizational niche with those of all others, and mutualistic effects of nonoverlap density, the aggregate nonoverlap, which are strongest among neighboring DCCs. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for studying organizational population dynamics.
TL;DR: In this paper, the adoption of disciplinary hearings and grievance procedures for nonunion salaried and hourly emplyees was analyzed from an institutional perspective, focusing on uncertainty arising from government mandates concerning equal employment opportunity and affirmative action and the role of human relations professsions in constructing employment relations law and prescribing models of compliance.
Abstract: This study uses longitudinal data on nearly 300 American employmers over the period 1955-85 to analyze the adoption of disciplinary hearings and grievance procedures for nonunion salaried and hourly emplyees. Hypotheses are developed from an institutional perspective that focuses, first, on uncertainty arisin from government mandates concerning equal employment opportunity and affirmative action and, second, on the role of the human relations professsions in constructing employment-relations law and prescribing models of compliance. Event-history techniques are used to test these hypotheses against competing arguments concerning the internatural structure and labor market position of employing organizations. Results on all outcomes strongly support the institutionalist model.
TL;DR: In this article, a formal theoretical model is developed that extends previous work on threshold models of collective behavior, showing that distances and relations between actors are likely to influence the growth and spread of social movements.
Abstract: This article how distances and relations between actors are likely to influence the growth and spread of social movements. A formal theoretical model is developed that extends previous work on threshold models of collective behavior. Spatial distribution of a population influences the network that are likely to emerge within the population; these network, in turn, will influence the likely outcome of a mobilization effort. Key theoretical predictions are tested using data on the founding of local union organizations in Sweden, 1890-1940. The empirical analyses show that contagious spatial processes were of considerable importance for the growth of the Swedish union movement, thus supporting the theoretical argument. The analyses presented in the article provide an alternative interpretation of density-dependent founding rates to the one offered by organizational ecologists.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze how the introduction of new cultural objects produced for a mass audience is managed through an organized discourse, drawing upon institutionalist theory and sociology of culture.
Abstract: Drawing upon institutionalist theory this artcle analyzes how the introduction of new cultural objects produced for a mass audience is managed through an organized discourse. Data come form annoucements of prime-time television series in development for the 1991-92 season by the four U.S. television networks. Maximumlikelihood logit analyses support the conclusion that network programmers working in a highly institutionalized context use reputation, imitation, and genre as rhetorical strategies to rationalize and legitimize their actions. This study contributes to institutionalist theory and the sociology of culture by explaining the content and consequences of business discourse in a culture industry.
TL;DR: In this article, a set of interrelated hypotheses on the impact of the institutionalization of knowledge production in the public, political, and academic sectors and political and legal decision making on macro outcomes of political and decision making using the case of criminal punishment is presented.
Abstract: Recent dramatic increases of criminal punishment in the United States and very different trends in the Federal Republic of Germany suggest a critique of basic sociological theory traditions The article confronts structural-functionalist, Marxist, and legalistic approaches with these trends and suggests an alternative and more complex theory Utilizing and ideal-typical comparison between the two countries, this article develops a set of interrelated hypotheses on the impact of the institutionalization of (a) knowledge production in the public, political, and academic sectors and (b) political and legal decision making on (c) macro outcomes of political and legal decision making Using the case of criminal punishment, the article suggests new themes for theory development and empirical macro-sociological research It also contributes to the understanding of current instabilities in the political process in the United States
TL;DR: In this article, a general framework relating law's legitimacy to the mix of legal and scientific rationalities in law is presented, which is consistent with dualistic visions of structure as both rules/schemas and resources.
Abstract: Current scholarship on how science affects law's legitimacy in advanced capitalist democracies yields inconsistent predictions and findings. This article resolves inconsistent and provides new insights by constructing a general framework relating law's legitimacy to the mix of legal and scientific rationalities in law. Consistent with dualistic visions of structure as both rules/schemas and resources, the theory specifies how competing legal and scientific rule/resource sets shape action and produce order and change through conflict in and over legal institutions. The theory's guiding orientations illuminate legitimacy processes, order, and change in other institutions including the economy, the polity, and education.
TL;DR: In this article, members of a professional group reported on friendship ties among all members, including themselves, and multiple methods of anlysis reveal several systematic biases in spatial representations of relationships.
Abstract: Members of a professional group reported on friendship ties among all members, including themselves. Multiple methods of anlysis reveal several systematic biases. In spatial representations individ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors unify social mobility and organizational ecology research and develop an ecological theory of career mobility, focusing on the vital events of organizational populations (founding, dissolution, and merging).
Abstract: This article unites social mobility and organizational ecology research and develops an ecological theory of career mobility. The vital events of organizational populations (founding, dissolution, ...
TL;DR: The authors analyzes patterns of tolerance among nationalities in the former Yugoslavia and finds that greater tolerance among urban residents, those from nationally diverse republics, and those with nationally mixed parentage and less tolerance among religious people strongly support the modernization theory of ethnic relations.
Abstract: This article analyzes patterns of tolerance among nationalities in the former Yugoslavia. Greater tolerance among urban residents, those from nationally diverse republics, and those with nationally mixed parentage and less tolerance among religious people strongly support the modernization theory of ethnic relations. The association of unemployment with intolerance and outbreaks of violence in areas with greater national diversity support theories of ethnic competition. Factors associated with modernism produce greater tolerance but increase the possibility of ethnic conflict. Humanity's dilemma is how to preserve the benefits of modernism for increased intergroup contact and tolerance while avoiding is potentially tragic implications.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a well-established model to simulate trajectories of competing organizational populations and found that path-dependent processes can often generate outcomes other than those implied by historical efficiency.
Abstract: Much organizational theory and research uses an equilibrium assumption known as historical efficiency. This assumption implies that observed distributions of organizations at any point in time reflect the unique outcomes of underlying systematic processes, independent of historical details. In an attempt to assess the plausibility of this assumption in the context of organizational evolution, the authors use a well-established model to simulate trajectories of competing organizational populations. The findings show that path-dependent processes can often generate outcomes other than those implied by historical efficiency. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, a simple social structure and pattern of social interaction was added to a Markov model of employment transitions in the model, society is composed fo many small (two-person) groups Unemployed individuals find jobs through strong ties (intragroup social interaction), weak ties (random intergroup interaction), and formal channels Holding constant the total level of social interactions affects the steady state equilibrium.
Abstract: This article adds a simple social structure and pattern of social interaction to a Markov model of employment transitions In the model, society is composed fo many small (two-person) groups Unemployed individuals find jobs through strong ties (intragroup social interaction), weak ties (random intergroup interaction), and formal channels Holding constant the total level of social interaction affects the steady-state equilibrium An increase in weak-tie interactions reduces inequality, thereby creating a more equitable distribution of employment across groups Moreover, an increase in weak-tie interactions increases the steady-state employment rate if inbreeding by employment status among weak ties is sufficiently low
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that under certain circumstances public sector employment helps ethnic minorities attain higher socioeconomic rewards and that Arab employees in Israel receive higher returns to education in the ethnic labor market, compared with the dominant market, and in the public sector rather than the private sector.
Abstract: This study expands the theoretical discussion of ethnic economies by focusing on public sector employment and the role the state plays in affecting the socioeconomic fortunes of ethnic minorities. The authors argue that under certain circumstances public sector employment helps ethnic minorities attain higher socioeconomic rewards. The findings of the study indicate that Arab employees in Israel receive higher returns to education in the ethnic labor market, compared with the dominant market, and in the public sector rather than the private sector. The latter result also holds true when Arab workers are compared to Jews, revealing the benefits derived from the sheltered labor market.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors found that the more a husband relies on his wife for economic support, the less housework he does, and that by doing less household chores, economically dependent husbands also become ''dogender''.
Abstract: Why does housework remain \"women's work\"? Some scholars argue that economic dependency comples wives to exchange unpaid labor for a share of the husband's income. Others claim that wives perform housework-and husbands avoid it-to enact symbolically their femininity or masculinity. This article examines both perspectives and finds that among wives the link between housework and the transfer of earnings in marriage complies with rules of economic exchange. However, the more a husband relies on his wife for economic support, the less housework he does. It appears that by doing less housework, economically dependent husbands also \"dogender.\
TL;DR: This paper examined the impacts of job values and direct attention to conative attitudes toward graduate school, which are inferred from prior behavior, and found no evidence of parental SES effects on schooling beyond college.
Abstract: This article resonsiders the apparently paradoxical absence of back ground SES effects on school continuation by college graduates. The approach is distinguished by its focus on specific graduate programs, in particular MBA programs, and by a concentration on different types of attitudes that appear relevant to graduate school matriculation. The article examines the impacts of job values and direct attention to conative attitudes toward graduate school, which are inferred from prior behavior. Results are consistent with earlier findings of SES effects on total years of schooling, yet also explain the absence of parental SES effects on schooling beyond college.