Doctoral Dissertation Research: Origination and Emergence of Economic Fields: The Case of Cleantech

mark Mizruchi (PI)Maria Farkas（合作PI）密歇根大学（University of michigan）摘要从历史上看，经济学界一直将研究生不断积累的变化实践视为一个新的经济领域正在出现或形成的有力指标。最近，学者们还发现，标签、图式以及经济行为者对它们的使用获得了实质性的意义——换句话说，它们很重要。但到目前为止，我们对这些意义从何而来、如何形成以及对谁有利知之甚少。本文提出了以下几个问题。谁是正在形成的新经济领域的意义制定者？在形成场中，行为者试图在意义构建中做出什么贡献？演员如何坚持自己喜欢的意义，并说服其他演员采用它们？为了解决这些问题，本文通过混合方法设计分析了清洁技术的新兴经济部门。清洁技术是一个新的部门，由各行各业致力于新技术的公司组成，这些新技术能够更好地利用有限的环境资源。通过对一群清洁技术公司的新闻稿进行内容分析，该项目测试了关于什么样的组织在形成领域成功创造意义的假设。在一项基于访谈和观察的相关研究中，该项目考察了清洁技术参与者用来影响其经济领域不断变化的意义的动机、策略和方法。更广泛的影响通常，学者们将企业或经济参与者所处的组织环境视为一种外生力量。相比之下，本项目将考察个别公司/组织有目的地行动以塑造其运营的更大环境的程度。该项目的结果可能会为寻求吸引新兴经济部门到当地的市政和州政策提供信息。

Doctoral Dissertation Research:Origination and Emergence of Economic Fields: The Case of CleantechSES - 1103201Mark Mizruchi (PI)Maria Farkas (co-PI)University of MichiganAbstractHistorically, economic scholarship has viewed the graduate buildup of changing practices as a strong indicator that a new economic field is emerging or forming. Recently, scholars have also found that labels, schemas, and their use by economic actors acquire substantive meaning -- in other words: they matter. But to date, we know little about where these meanings come from, how they are shaped, and to whose advantage. This dissertation asks the following questions. Who are the meaning makers in new economic fields being formed? What are actors trying to accomplish in contributing to meaning construction in a forming field? How do actors assert their preferred meanings and convince other actors to adopt them? To address these questions, this dissertation analyzes the emerging economic sector of cleantech through a mixed methods design. Cleantech is a new sector that comprises firms across industries working on new technologies that enable better use of limited environmental resources. Using a content analysis of press releases form a population of cleantech companies, the project tests hypotheses about what kinds of organizations succeed in creating meaning in a forming field. In a related study based on interviews and observations, the project examines the motivations, strategies and methods cleantech actors use to influence evolving meanings in their economic field. Broader ImpactsTypically, scholars treat the organizational environment in which firms or economic actors operate as an exogenous force. In contrast, this project will examine the degree to which individual firms/organizations act purposively to shape the larger environment in which they operate. Results of this project might inform municipal and state policies that seek to draw emerging economic sectors to their locales.