Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

11-2017

Abstract

Individuals who join an organization often adopt its characteristic behaviors, but does the same effect extend to nearby nonmembers, and is this process impeded or enhanced by the competition between organizations? This article argues that organizations influence the behavior of both members and proximate nonmembers in a process we term “organizational leakage” and that competition between organizations moderates the impact of any one of them on individual behavior. This article finds, using the Add Health data, that an individual’s location in an organizational ecology is an important predictor of his or her behavior, even while controlling for other factors, including membership.

Discipline

Sociology | Work, Economy and Organizations

Research Areas

Sociology

Publication

American Journal of Sociology

Volume

123

Issue

3

First Page

787

Last Page

849

ISSN

0002-9602

Identifier

10.1086/693703

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Embargo Period

10-1-2018

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1086/693703

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