Presenter: Associate Professor of Organization & Management - Giacomo Negro

Affiliation: Emory University

Title: "We Are Everywhere": Organizational Diversity and the Enactment of Gay Rights Ordinances in U.S. Communities, 1972-2008

Authors: Giacomo Negro (Emory University), Fabrizio Perretti (Bocconi University) and Glenn R. Carroll (Stanford University)

Abstract:
We develop an organizational framework of socio-legal change in local communities based on three mechanisms: (1) organizational inclusiveness of insider constituents; (2) the capacity of organizations to bridge insider and outsider constituents, especially in market settings; (3) and the congruence between organizational forms affiliated with insiders and with outsiders in the community. Empirically, we examine how these mechanisms affect the promulgation of laws against discrimination of gay people, using a comprehensive dataset covering all American counties from 1972 to 2008. A central and novel component of this dataset comes from detailed listings in local directories compiled and published for gay people. Our analysis finds evidence of the operation of the three mechanisms, albeit in varying degrees. Changes in the political opportunity structure and resource mobilization also affect enactment. The findings suggest that socio-legal change can be promoted in part by organizational action that is not immediately strategic or rebellious.