Bringing the Firms Back in: Stratification, Segmentation, and the Organization of Work

Baron, James N.; Bielby, William T.

doi:10.2307/2094893

Cited by 638 publications

(314 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…We see this as a particularly significant oversight given the importance given to the role of firms in earlier studies of stratification (e.g., Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996;Stolzenberg 1978). In particular, the neo-structuralist stratification perspective persuasively argued that through their decisions regarding the allocation of jobs, how to reward workers for their labor, and where they place their boundaries, organizations play a key role in how income is stratified (Baron and Bielby 1980).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A number of researchers have recently begun to try to address this gap by more fully discussing the role of organizations in rising income inequality (e.g., Cobb 2016; Davis and Cobb 2010;Sørensen 2007). Leveraging insights from the neostructuralist tradition of stratification studies (e.g., Baron and Bielby 1980), these researchers contend that organizations help determine labor market outcomes such as income inequality by providing unequal access to remuneration, rewards, and opportunities for advancement (Baron 1984;Kalleberg and Sørensen 1979;Spilerman 1977). In fact, studies have shown that nearly 40 percent of the total variation in wages emerges from similarly skilled workers being employed in firms that reward them differently (Abowd and Kramarz 1999).…”

Section: The Firm-size Wage Effect and Rising Wage Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Cobb

Lin

2017

Organization Science

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Wage inequality in the United States has risen dramatically over the past few decades, prompting scholars to develop a number of theoretical accounts for the upward trend. This study argues that large firms have been a prominent labor-market institution that mitigates inequality. By compensating their low-and middle-wage employees with a greater premium than their higher-wage counterparts, large U.S. firms reduced overall wage dispersion. Yet, broader changes to employment relations associated with the demise of internal labor markets and the emergence of alternative employment arrangements have undermined large firms' role as an equalizing institution. Using data from the Current Population Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we find that in 1989, although all private-sector workers benefited from a firm-size wage premium, the premium was significantly higher for individuals at the lower end and middle of the wage distribution compared to those at the higher end. Between 1989 and 2014, the average firm-size wage premium declined markedly. The decline, however, was exclusive to those at the lower end and middle of the wage distribution, while there was no change for those at the higher end. As such, the uneven declines in the premium across the wage spectrum could account for about 20% of rising wage inequality during this period, suggesting that firms are of great importance to the study of rising inequality.Keywords firm-size wage premium, inequality, internal labor market, employment relationship Disciplines Management Sciences and Quantitative MethodsThis journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons:

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: The Firm-size Wage Effect and Rising Wage Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Cobb

Lin

2017

Organization Science

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“…Third, variation in attention focus and causal logics and speed of response can result from maturation of firms rather than from variation in the industry velocity. This problem is more likely in younger rather than older firms (Baron and Bielby, 1980). Firms that are at least 10-years old are adequately mature (Baron and Bielby, 1980) and have well developed cognition (Barr, 1998), so we selected firms that were at least 10-years old.…”

Section: Time Frame and Sample Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental context, managerial cognition, and strategic action: an integrated view

Nadkarni

Barr

2008

Strategic Management Journal

491

457

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This study addresses an apparent disconnect between two views of strategic action: the ‘economic view,’ which contends that industry structure is the primary influence on strategic action, and the ‘cognitive view,’ which suggests that managerial cognition drives strategic action. We argue that this disconnect has created artificial boundaries between the two perspectives and has limited our ability to develop holistic explanations of strategic action. In response, we develop an integrated model that answers two questions: 1) Does industry context affect managerial cognition? 2) Does managerial cognition mediate the relationship between industry context and strategic responses to environmental changes? To examine these questions, we study the relationship between industry velocity, the structure of top management's cognitive representation of the environment, and the speed of response to environmental events. We find that industry velocity influences the structure of cognitive representations, which in turn influence the speed of response to environmental events. These results support our contention that both industry and cognition variables are critical in developing explanations of strategic actions. These results have implications for our understanding of the development of top managers' beliefs, the relationship between beliefs and action, and the nature of the complex relationship between industry context, managerial cognition, and strategic action. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…Our operating premise is that in order to fully understand the causes and consequences of school staffing problems, it is necessary to "put the organization back" into the analysis (cf. Stolzenberg, 1978;Baron & Bielby, 1980), and to examine these issues from the perspective of the schools and districts where these processes happen and within which teachers work. Employee supply, demand, and turnover are central issues in organizational theory and research (e.g., Mobley 1982;Price 1977Price , 1989Mueller & Price 1990;Hom & Griffeth 1995).…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mathematics and science teacher shortage: Fact and myth

Ingersoll¹,

Perda²

2009

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Contemporary educational thought holds that one of the pivotal causes of inadequate school performance is the inability of schools to adequately staff classrooms with qualified teachers, especially in fields such as mathematics and science. Shortages of teachers, it is commonly believed, are at the root of these staffing problems, and these shortfalls are, in turn, primarily due to recent increases in teacher retirements and student enrollments.The objective of this study is to empirically reexamine the issue of mathematics and science teacher shortages and to evaluate the extent to which there is a supply-side deficit-a shortage-of new teachers in these particular fields. The data utilized in this investigation are from three sources-the Schools and Staffing Survey and its supplement, the Teacher Follow-Up Survey; the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System; and the Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey, all conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.The data show that there are indeed widespread school staffing problems-that is, many schools experience difficulties filling their classrooms with qualified candidates, especially in the fields of math and science. But, contrary to conventional wisdom, the data also show that these school staffing problems are not solely, or even primarily, due to shortages in the sense that too few new mathematics and science teachers are produced each year. The data document that the new supply of mathematics and science teachers is more than sufficient to cover the losses of teachers due to retirement. For instance, in 2000 there were over two and half teachers in the new supply of math teachers for every one math teacher who retired that year. However, when preretirement teacher turnover is factored in, there is a much tighter balance between the new supply of mathematics and science teachers and losses. The data also shows that turnover varies greatly between different types of schools and these differences are tied to the characteristics and conditions of those schools. While it is true that teacher retirements are increasing, the overall volume of turnover accounted for by retirement is relatively minor when compared with that resulting from other causes, such as teacher job dissatisfaction and teachers seeking to pursue better jobs or other careers. Disciplines Educational Administration and Supervision | Science and Mathematics Education | Teacher Education and Professional Development CommentsView on the CPRE website. AbstractContemporary educational thought holds that one of the pivotal causes of inadequate school performance is the inability of schools to adequately staff classrooms with qualified teachers, especially in fields such as mathematics and science. Shortages of teachers, it is commonly believed, are at the root of these staffing problems, and these shortfalls are, in turn, primarily due to recent increases in teacher retirements and student enrollments.The objective of this study is to empirically reexamine the issue of mathemati...

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Bringing the Firms Back in: Stratification, Segmentation, and the Organization of Work

Cited by 638 publications

References 41 publications

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Environmental context, managerial cognition, and strategic action: an integrated view

The mathematics and science teacher shortage: Fact and myth

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