Business Commons^™

The Economics Of Same-Sex Couple Households: Essays On Work, Wages, And Poverty, Alyssa Schneebaum

Open Access Dissertations

Since Badgett's (1995a) landmark study on the wage effects of sexual orientation, interest in and production of scholarly work addressing the economics of sexual orientation has grown tremendously. Curious puzzles have emerged in the literature on the economics of same-sex couple households, three of which are addressed in detail in this dissertation.

Most studies of the wages of women in same-sex couples versus different-sex couples find that the former earn more, even controlling for differences in present labor market supply, education, experience, area of residence, and occupation. However, most previous studies of the sexual orientation wage gap omit the role …

Coaching The Self: Identity Work(Ing) And The Self-Employed Professional, Sinéad Grace Ruane

Open Access Dissertations

Identity has long been a prolific research interest for organizational scholars. Its popularity can be attributed to the development of post-bureaucratic organizations, where control is no longer achieved through external forms (i.e. rules and procedures), but rather, "softer" mechanisms, such as organizational culture and values. Examining identity therefore becomes crucial for understanding how employees internalize organizational goals to exhibit desired behaviors. While the predominant approach has been to analyze how organizations help shape, control, and regulate member identity, this project calls into question the assumption of organizational employment to explore the micro-processes of identity construction among a growing class of …

Fan Communities And Subgroups: Exploring Individuals' Supporter Group Experiences, Bruce David Tyler

Open Access Dissertations

The aggregate of a sport team’s fans may be viewed as a consumption community that surrounds the team and its brand (Devasagayam & Buff, 2008; Hickman & Ward, 2007). Beneath this larger consumption umbrella, smaller groups of consumers may exist (Dholakia, Bagozzi, & Pearo, 2004), such as specific supporter groups for a team. Individuals thus may identify with multiple layers of the consumption group simultaneously (Brodsky & Marx, 2001; Hornsey & Hogg, 2000). Although past researchers have studied supporter groups (Giulianotti, 1996, 1999a; Parry & Malcolm, 2004) and consumption communities (Kozinets, 2001; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, …

The Role Of Capabilities In Innovation Adoption Decisions, Kevin Snyder

Open Access Dissertations

Successful innovations have been assumed by prior literature to ultimately be adopted by all competitors within an industry based on social explanations or economic rationale specific to the efficiency of the innovation. However, capabilities possessed by a firm can enhance or inhibit the adoption based upon their similarity to those used in the innovation. In categorizing a firm's capabilities as complementary, substitutive, or neutralizing to the innovation, this study provides an economic explanation for the role of internal capabilities in adoption decisions.

Using a sample of professional football teams adopting the West Coast Offense, I find that capabilities influence the …