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Dissertation Information for Glenn R. Carroll

NAME:
- Glenn R. Carroll

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Sociology

SCHOOL:
- Stanford University (USA) (1982)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: PUBLISH AND PERISH: A DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONAL MORTALITY IN THE AMERICAN LOCAL NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY FROM 1800 TO 1975

Abstract: Sociological theories of formal organizations maintain that environmental conditions affect the death rates of organizations. This monograph examines a variety factors hypothesized to affect the longevity of a newspaper organization. The research strategy taken characterizes organizational death as a stochastic process and explores variations in the instantaneous rate of death among 2808 American local newspapers within the period from 1800 to 1975. Using supplemental data on other types of organizations, the hazard function model known as Makeham's Law is shown to fit data on organizational mortality relatively well. Maximum likelihood parameter estimates of this model demonstrate that organizational death rates decline with age, exhibiting what Stinchcombe has called the liability of newness. This effect is shown to be distinct from the effect of organizational size. Further analysis shows that the death rates of young newspapers vary by the level of industrial development, the density of the environment, and the social form of organization.

Another major topic considered is the relationship between organizational death and the timing of succession in the publisher position for the organization's founder. The findings indicate that exit of the founder increases the organizational rate of death. It is also shown that exit of the founder has its greatest impact when the founder performs the multiple roles of editor and publisher.

The final section of the analysis considers the effect of economic concentration in the mass market on newspaper mortality. A resource-partitioning model is developed and empirical estimates show that as the market for general interest dailies concentrates, the death rates of generalist newspapers increase but the death rates of specialist newspapers decrease. This finding has implications for those concerned with the number of independent editorial voices in the nation.

MPACT Scores for Glenn R. Carroll

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:14:20

Advisors and Advisees Graph