Amanda Sharkey

Amanda Sharkey is an economic sociologist who studies how social and cultural factors impact organizational behaviors and market outcomes. Her research has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, the American Sociological Review, the American Journal of Sociology, Organization Science, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Sociological Methods and Research.

Sharkey’s previous work has focused on the role of industry prestige in shaping how investors react to firms that announce earnings restatements. She has also studied the effects of external ratings systems (e.g., KLD, Fortune’s Best Companies) and industry peers in influencing firms’ tendency to pollute. She is currently working on projects in a variety of empirical domains, including the nursing home industry, Islamic banking and diversity management.

Sharkey earned a bachelor’s of science in journalism, as well as a bachelor’s of arts in economics, from Northwestern University in 1999. She completed a master’s degree in social research methods from the London School of Economics in 2004. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Stanford University in 2011.

Prior to entering academia, she spent time working in management consulting and education policy.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Economic sociology, organizational theory, status, reputation, valuation, categorization, financial markets, labor markets, entrepreneurship

Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology Stanford University (2005 — 2011)
• M.Sc. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2003 — 2004)
• Bachelor's degree Northwestern University (1995 — 1999)

PUBLICATIONS

• Ody-Brasier, Amandine and Amanda Sharkey. 2019. “Under Pressure: Reputation, Ratings and Inaccurate Self-reporting in the Nursing Home Industry.” Strategic Management Journal 40(10): 1517-1544.
• Hannan, Michael and Gael LeMens and Greta Hsu and Balazs Kovacs and Giacomo Negro and Laszlo Polos and Elizabeth Pontikes and Amanda Sharkey. 2019. Concepts and Categories: Foundations for Cultural and Sociological Analysis. (New York: Columbia University Press).
• Sharkey, Amanda and Balazs Kovacs. 2018. “The Many Gifts of Status: How Attending to Audience Reactions Drives the Use of Status.” Management Science. 64(11): 5422-5443.
• Sharkey, Amanda. “The Dark Side of Status.” 2017. Journal of Management Inquiry 1-3.
• Paolella, Lionel and Amanda J. Sharkey. 2017. “Forging Consensus: An Integrated View of How Categories Shape the Perception of Organizational Identity.” pp. 327-353 in Research in the Sociology of Organizations, vol. 51. (Rodolphe Durand, Nina Granqvist and Anna Tyllstrom, eds.)
• Bromley, Patricia and Amanda Sharkey. 2017. “Casting Call: The Expanding Nature of Actorhood in U.S. Firms, 1960-2010.” Accounting, Organizations and Society. 59: 3-20.
• Thebaud, Sarah and Amanda Sharkey. 2016. “Unequal Hard Times: The Influence of the Great Recession on Gender Bias in Entrepreneurial Financing.” Sociological Science. 3: 1-31.
• Sharkey, Amanda and Patricia Bromley. 2015. “Can Ratings Have Indirect Effects?: Evidence From the Organizational Response to Peers’ Environmental Ratings.” American Sociological Review 80(1): 63-91.
• Sharkey, Amanda. 2014. “Categories and Organizational Status: The Role of Industry Status in the Response to Organizational Deviance.” American Journal of Sociology. 119(5): 1380-1433.
• Sorensen, Jesper and Amanda Sharkey. 2014. “Entrepreneurship as a Mobility Process.” American Sociological Review. 79(2): 328-349.
• Kovacs, Balazs and Amanda Sharkey. 2014. “The Paradox of Publicity: How Awards Can Negatively Affect the Evaluation of Quality.” Administrative Science Quarterly. 59(1): 1-33.
• Leung, Ming D. and Amanda Sharkey. 2014. “Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Evidence of Perceptual Factors in the Multiple-Category Discount.” Organization Science. 25(1): 171-184.
• Willer, Robb and Amanda Sharkey and Seth Frey. 2012. “Reciprocity on the Hardwood: Passing Patterns Among Professional Basketball Players.” PloS one 7(12).
• Sorensen, Jesper and Amanda Sharkey. 2011. “The Perils of False Certainty: A Comment on the ASA Amicus Brief in Dukes vs. Wal-Mart.” Sociological Methods and Research. 40: 635-645.