Caveat emptor: The construction of nonprofit consumer watchdog organizations

American Journal of Sociology

Volumn 103, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 912-961

  Rao, Hayagreeva ^a  

^a EMORY UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0032331695     PISSN: 00029602     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/231293     Document Type: Article

References (117)

1. Abbott, A. 1990. The System of the Professions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. Aldrich, Howard E. 1979. Organizations and Environments. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
3. Aldrich, Howard E., Catherine R. Zimmer, Udo H. Staber, and John J. Beggs. 1994. "Minimalism, Mutualism, and Maturity: The Evolution of American Trade Associations in the 20th Century." Pp. 223-39 in Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations, edited by J. Baum and J. V. Singh. New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Astley, W. G. 1985. "The Two Ecologies: Population and Community Perspectives on Organizational Evolution." Administrative Science Quarterly 30:224-41.
5. Baron, J. N., F. R. Dobbin, and P. D. Jennings. 1986. "War and Peace: The Evolution of Modern Personnel Administration in U.S. Industry. "A merican Journal of Sociology 92:350-83.
6. Becker, Howard. 1963. Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press.
7. Biggart, Nicole W. 1989. Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
8. Briloff, A. J. 1972. Unaccountable Accounting. New York: Harper & Row.
9. Brint, Steven, and Jerome Karabell. 1991. "Institutional Origins and Transformations: The Case of American Community Colleges." Pp. 337-60 in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by W. W. Powell and Paul DiMaggio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
10. Brittain, W. J., and John Freeman. 1982. "Organizational Proliferation and Density Dependent Selection." Pp. 291-338 in The Organizational Life Cycle, edited by J. R. Kimberly and R. H. Miles. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
11. Brobeck, Stephen. 1990. The Modern Consumer Movement: References and Resources. Boston: G. K. Hall.
12. Bykerk, L., and A. Manney. 1995. U.S. Consumer Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles. Greenwich, Conn.: Greenwood.
13. Campbell, John L., and Leon Lindberg. 1990. "Property Rights and the Organization of Economic Activity by the State." American Sociological Review 55:634-47.
14. Carroll, Glenn R. 1984. "Organizational Ecology." Annual Review of Sociology 10: 71-93.
15. Carroll, Glenn R., Jacques Delacroix, and Jerry Goodstein. 1990. "The Political Environment of Organizations: An Ecological View." Pp. 67-100 in Evolution and Adaptation of Organizations, edited by Barry Staw and Larry L. Cummings. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
16. Chase, Stuart. 1922. The Challenge of Waste. New York: New York League for Industrial Democracy.
17. _. 1925. The Tragedy of Waste. New York: Macmillan.
18. Chase, Stuart, and Frederick Schlink. 1927. Your Money's Worth. New York: Macmillan.
19. Cochrane, Rexmond C. 1966. Measures for Progess: A History of the National Bureau of Standards. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce.
20. Consumers International. 1997. Consumers International Fact Book. New York: Consumers International.
21. CR (Consumers Research). 1932. "Bylaws." New York: Consumers Research.
22. CU (Consumers Union). 1936. "Certificate of Incorporation." New York: Consumers Union.
23. _. 1938. Consumers Union Buying Guide. New York: Consumers Union.
24. _. 1952. "Minutes of the Board of Directors." New York.
25. DiMaggio. Paul. 1988. "Interest and Agency in Institutional Theory." Pp. 3-21 in Institutional Patterns and Organizations: Culture and Environment, edited by L. G. Zucker. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger
26. _. 1991. "Constructing an Organizational Field as a Professional Project: U.S. Art Museums 1920-1940." Pp. 267-92 in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by W. W. Powell and Paul DiMaggio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
27. _. 1994. "Culture and Economy." Pp. 27-57 in Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by N. J. Smelser and R. Swedberg. New York: Russell Sage.
28. DiMaggio, Paul J., and Walter W. Powell. 1983. "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. "American Sociological Review 48:147-60.
29. _. 1991. Introduction to The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by Walter W. Powell and Paul DiMaggio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
30. Douglas, Mary. 1986. How Institutions Think. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
31. Durkheim, Émile. 1950. The Rules of Sociological Method. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press.
32. Edwards, Bob, and Sam Marullo. 1995. "Organizational Mortality in a Declining Social Movement: The Demise of Peace Movement Organizations in the End of the Cold War Era." American Sociological Review 60 (6): 908-27.
33. Epstein, Ralph C. 1928. The Automobile Industry: Its Economic and Commercial Development. Chicago: A. W. Shaw.
34. Fama, Eugene, and Michael Jensen. 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control." Journal of Law and Economics 24:301-23.
35. Felten, Eric. 1991. "Money from Pollution Suits Can Follow a Winding Course." Insight 7:18-20.
36. Fligstein, Neil. 1996a. "How to Make a Market: Reflections on the Attempt to Create a Single Market in the European Union." American Journal of Sociology 102:1-33.
37. _. 1996b. "Markets as Politics: A Political Cultural Approach to Market Institutions." American Sociological Review 61:656-73.
38. Fornell, C. 1988. "Corporate Consumers Affairs Departments: Retrospect and Prospect." Pp. 595-620 in Frontiers of Research on Consumers Interest, edited by E. Scott Maynes. Columbia, Mo.: American Council on Consumer Interest.
39. Fox, William. 1984. The Mirror Makers. New York: William Morrow.
40. Frenzen, J., Paul Hirsch, and Phillip Zerrillo. 1994. "Consumption, Preferences, and Changing Lifestyle." Pp. 403-25 in Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg. New York: Russell Sage.
41. Friedland, Roger, and Robert R. Alford. 1991 "Bringing Society Back In: Symbols, Practices, and Institutional Contradictions." Pp. 232-66 in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
42. Friedson, Eliot. 1986. Professional Powers: A Study of the Institutionalization of Formal Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
43. Fuld, Leonhard Felix. 1916. Service Instructions of American Corporations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education.
44. Granovetter, Mark. 1994. "Business Groups." Pp. 454-76 in Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by N. J. Smelser and R. Swedberg. New York: Russell Sage.
45. Haines, Herbert H. 1984. "Black Radicalization and the Funding of Civil Rights: 1957-1970." Social Problems 32:31-43.
46. Hannan, Michael T., and John Freeman. 1989. Organizational Ecology. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press.
47. Hechter, Michael T. 1990. "The Emergence of Cooperative Social Institutions." Pp. 13-34 in Social Institutions: Their Emergence, Maintenance, and Effects, edited by Michael Hechter, Karl-Dieter Opp, and Reinhard Wippler. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
48. Heermance, Edgar L. 1924. Codes of Ethics: A Handbook. Burlington, Vt.: Free Press.
49. Hermann, Robert O. 1970. "Consumerism: Its Goals, Organizations and Future." Journal of Marketing 34 (October): 55-60.
50. Hirsch, Paul M. 1986. "From Ambushes to Golden Parachutes: Corporate Takeovers as an Instance of Cultural Framing and Institutional Integration." American Journal of Sociology 91:801-37.
51. Kallett, Arthur, and Frederick Schlink. 1933. 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs: Dangers in Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.
52. Katz, Norman. 1977. "Consumers Union: The Movement and the Magazine." Ph.D. dissertation. Rutgers University.
53. Kelley, Florence. 1899. "Aims and Principles of the Consumers' League." American Journal of Sociology 5 (3): 289-304.
54. Kimberly, J. R. 1975. "Environmental Constraints and Organizational Structure: A Comparative Analysis of Rehabilitation Organizations." Administrative Science Quarterly 20:1-19.
55. Kitson, Harry. 1922. "The Growth of the 'Service Idea' in Selling." Journal of Political Economy 30 (June): 417-19.
56. Klandermans, B. 1992. "The Social Construction of Protest and Multi-Organizational Fields." Pp. 77-103 in Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, edited by Aldon Morris and Carol Mueller. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
57. Lamb, Ruth deForest. 1936. American Chamber of Horrors: The Truth about Food and Drugs. New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
58. Letts, Arthur. 1914. "Progressive Methods in Dry Goods Retailing." Dry Goods Economist 68 (April): 7.
59. Luhmann, Niklas. 1979. Trust and Power: Two Works. Chichester, N.Y.: Wiley.
60. Lukes, S. 1974. Power: A Radical View. London: Macmillan.
61. Lumsden, C., and Jitendra Singh. 1990. "The Dynamics of Organizational Speciation." Pp. 145-63 in Organizational Evolution: New Directions, edited by Jitendra V. Singh. San Francisco: Sage.
62. Madden, M. Stuart. 1988. Products Liability. St. Paul, Minn.: West.
63. March, James, and Johan Olsen. 1989. Rediscovering Institutions. New York: Free Press.
64. McAdam, D. 1994. "Culture and Social Movements." Pp. 36-57 in New Social Movements, edited by Enrique Larana, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
65. McAdam, D., J. D. McCarthy, and M. N. Zald. 1988. "Social Movements." Pp. 695-737 in Handbook of Sociology, edited by Neil J. Smelser. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage.
66. McKelvey, B. 1982. Organizational Systematics: Taxonomy, Evolution, Classification. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
67. Meyer, D. S., and D. R. Imig. 1993. "Political Opportunity and the Rise and Decline of Interest Group Sectors." Social Science Journal 30:253-70.
68. Meyer, John W., John Boli, and George M. Thomas. 1987. "Ontology and Rationalization in the Western Cultural Account." Pp. 12-37 in Institutional Structure: Constituting State, Society, and the Individual, edited by George M. Thomas, John W. Meyer, Francisco Ramirez, and John Boli, Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
69. Meyer, John, and Brian Rowan. 1991. "Institutional Organizations: Formal Structures as Myth and Ceremony." American Journal of Sociology 83:340-63.
70. Nader, Ralph. 1965. Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile. New York: Grossman.
71. Nelson, Richard R., and Sidney G. Winter. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press.
72. Oliver, Christine. 1991. "Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes." Academy of Management Review 16:145-79.
73. _. 1992. "The Antecedents of Deinstitutionalization." Organization Studies 13: 563-88.
74. Olney, M. 1991. Buy Now, Pay Later. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
75. Oster, Sharon. 1994. Modern Competitive Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
76. Padgett, John, and Christopher K. Ansell. 1993. "Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434." American Journal of Sociology 98:1259-1319.
77. Pfeffer, J. M. 1992. Managing with Power. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
78. Phillips, Mary C. 1934. Skin Deep. New York: Vanguard.
79. Pollay, R. 1985. "The Subsiding Sizzle: A Descriptive History of Print Advertising, 1900-1980." Journal of Marketing 49 (3): 24-39.
80. Powell, Walter W. 1991. "Expanding the Scope of Organizational Analysis." Pp. 183-203 in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
81. Priest, G. 1984. "The Invention of Enterprise Liability: A Critical History of the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Tort Law." Working paper, no. 27. Yale Law School, Yale University.
82. Ranson, S., C. L. Hinings, and Royston Greenwood. 1980. "The Structuring of Organizational Structure." Administrative Science Quarterly 25:1-14.
83. Romanelli, E. 1989. "Organizational Birth and Population Variety: A Community Perspective on Origins." Pp. 211-246 in Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 11. Edited by Barry Staw and Larry L. Cummings. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
84. Samson, Peter. 1980. "The Emergence of a Consumer Interest in America." Ph.D dissertation. University of Chicago.
85. Sargent, Hugh. 1958. "The Influence of Consumer Product Testing and Reporting Services on Consumer Behavior." Ph.D. dissertation. University of Illinois.
86. Schlink, F. 1927. "Tests and Specifications for the Household. "Journal of Home Economics 19:18-20.
87. Schudson, Michael. 1978. Discovering the News. New York: Basic.
88. Schumpeter, J. A. 1950. Capitalism Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper.
89. Scott, W. R. 1995. Institutions and Organizations. San Francisco: Sage.
90. Shapiro, Susan P. 1987. "The Social Control of Impersonal Trust." American Journal of Sociology 93:623-58.
91. Shepsle, K. 1990. Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
92. Silber, Norman Isaac. 1983. Test and Protest: The Influence of Consumers Union. New York: Holmes & Meier.
93. Sorenson, Helen. 1941. The Consumer Movement. New York: Harper.
94. Snow, David A., and Robert D. Benford. 1992. "Master Frames and Cycles of Protest." Pp. 133-55 in Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, edited by Aldon Morris and Carol Mueller. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
95. Spacone, C. A. 1985. "The Emergence of Strict Liability: A Historical Perspective and Other Considerations including Senate 100." Journal of Product Liability 8:1-40.
96. Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1965. "Social Structure and Organizations." Pp. 142-93 in Handbook of Organizations, edited by James G. March. Chicago: Rand McNally.
97. _. 1968. Constructing Social Theories. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
98. Stoddard, C. K. 1928. "Your Standard's Worth." Printers Ink, August 16, pp. 117-20.
99. Sutton, J. R., and F. Dobbin. 1996. "The Two Faces of Governance: Responses to Legal Uncertainty in U.S. Firms, 1955-1986." American Sociological Review 61: 794-811.
100. Swidler, Ann. 1986. "Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies." American Sociological Review 51:273-86.
101. Tarrow, Sidney. 1989. Democracy and Disorder: Protest and Politics in Italy: 1965-1975. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
102. Thomas, Robert Paul. 1977. An Analysis of the Patterns of Growth of the Automobile Industry, 1895-1929. New York: Arno Press.
103. Thorelli, Hans, and Sarah Thorelli. 1974. Consumer Information Handbook. New York: Praeger.
104. Tushman, Michael L., and Philip Anderson. 1986. "Technological Discontinuities and Organizational Environments." Administrative Science Quarterly 31:439-65.
105. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1975. Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce.
106. Vaile, R. 1927. The Economics of Advertising. New York: Ronald Press.
107. Vandall, F. 1989. Strict Liability: Legal and Economic Analysis. New York: Quorum Books.
108. Van de Ven, A. H., and R. Garud. 1989. "A Framework for Understanding the Emergence of New Industries." Pp. 195-225 in Research In Technological Innovation, Management, and Policy, edited by R. Rosenbloom and R. Burgelman. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
109. Veblen, Thorstein. 1919. The Place of Science in Modern Civilization and Other Essays. New York: Huebsch.
110. White, Harrison. 1992. Identity and Control. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
111. Wiley, Mary, and Mayer Zald. 1968. "The Growth and Transformation of Educational Accrediting Agencies: An Exploratory Study in the Social Control of Institutions." Sociology of Education 41:36-56.
112. Williamson, Oliver E. 1985. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York: Free Press.
113. Zald, Mayer N. 1992. "Looking Backward to Look Forward: Reflections on the Past and Future of the Resource Mobilization Research Program." Pp. 326-48 in Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, edited by Aldon Morris and Carol Mueller. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
114. Zald, Mayer, and John D. McCarthy. 1980. "Social Movement Industries: Competition and Cooperation among Movement Organizations."Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change 3:1-20.
115. Zelizer, Vivianna A. 1994. The Social Meaning of Money New York: Basic.
116. Zucker, Lynne G. 1986 "The Production of Trust: Institutional Sources of Economic Structure: 1840-1920." Pp. 53-111 in Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 8. Edited by Barry Staw and Larry L. Cummings. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
117. Zuckerman, E. 1996 "Mediating the Corporate Product: Securities Analysts and the Scope of the Firm." Working paper. University of Chicago, Department of Sociology.