Browsing by Subject "ENTREPRENEURSHIP"

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    Jim Crow, Ethnic Enclaves, and Status Attainment: Occupational Mobility among U.S. Blacks, 1880-1940
    (American Journal of Sociology, 2018) Ruef, M; Grigoryeva, Angelina
    Demographic and ecological theories yieldmixed evidence as to whether ethnic enclaves are a benefit or a hindrance to the status attainment of residents and entrepreneurs. This article provides one possible theoretical resolution by separating the positive effects that may emanate among co-ethnic neighbors from the negative effects that may resultwith the concentration of racial or ethnic groups. The theory is tested by analyzing occupational wage attainment and entrepreneurship among African-Americans between 1880 and 1940, a historical context in which Jim Crow laws imposed segregation exogenously. Drawing on crosssectional and panel census data for representative samples of blacks in theUnited States, the results suggest consistent upward occupational mobilityamong residents with same-race neighbors, accompanied with downward mobility among residents who are concentrated in larger racialized enclaves. Both patterns are also observed in the distribution of entrepreneurial activity among blacks during the Jim Crow era.
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    What is Organizational History? Towards a Creative Synthesis of History and Organization Studies
    (Academy of Management Review, 2016) Godfrey, P; Hassard, J; O'Connor, E; Rowlinson, M; Ruef, M
    As a synthesis of organization theory and historiography, the field of organizational history is mature enough to contribute to wider theoretical and historiographical debates and is sufficiently developed for a theoretical consideration of its subject matter. In this introduction to the Special Topic Forum on History and Organization Studies, we take up the question, "What is organizational history?" and consider three distinct arguments that we believe frame the next phase of development for historical work within organization studies. First, we argue that following the "historic turn," organizational history has developed as a subfield of organization studies that takes seriously the matter of history, promoting historical research as a way to enrich the broad endeavor of organization. Second, if "historymatters," then organization theory needs a theoretical account of the past that goes beyond the mere use of history as a context to test or as an example to illustrate theory. Third, the focus on "history that matters" in the present leads to two important considerations: How organizations can use "rhetorical history" as a strategic resource and the need to engage with historiographically significant subjects that connect organization theory to larger humanistic concerns, such as slavery and racism.