Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Genesis of Organizational Forms in Virgin Niches

1978年，为了应对石油价格从每桶10美元上涨到50美元，美国国会通过了《公用事业监管政策法案》(PURPA)，鼓励非公用事业公司使用替代能源和技术进行发电。几乎在一夜之间，PURPA通过要求现有公用事业公司从合格设施(QF)购买电力，创建了电力行业的一个新部门。到1992年，QF产生了美国10%的电力。这篇博士论文研究项目建议使用定性方法和大型数据库的经验分析来分析这一新创建的利基市场随后的发展。相对较少的研究集中在资源空间(生态位)的初始阶段。这项研究探索了微观(个体)和宏观(调节和技术结构)变量的相互影响以及它们如何塑造生态位发展。这些概念是通过对1980至1992年间合格基金的创建以及对所创建的合格基金的数量和组织形式的各种微观(创业价值观、社会网络和专业背景)和宏观(不断演变的规范和监管)影响的审查而得以运作的。

In 1978, in response to a rise in petroleum costs from $10 to $50 a barrel, the U.S. Congress passed the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) to encourage power production by non-utilities using alternative energy sources and technology. Virtually overnight, PURPA created a new sector of the power industry by requiring existing utilities to buy electricity from qualifying facilities (QFs) which, by 1992, generated 10 percent of the electricity in the U.S. This doctoral dissertation research project proposes to analyze the ensuing development of this newly created niche using both qualitative methods and empirical analyses of a large database. Relatively few studies focus on resource spaces (niches) in their initial stages. This study explores the reciprocal effects of micro (individual) and macro (regulative and technological structures) variables and how they shape niche development. These concepts are operationalized by an examination of foundings of QFs between 1980 and 1992 and the various micro (entrepreneurial values, social networks, and professional background) and macro (evolving norms and regulation) influences on both the number and organizational form of QFs founded.