Fitting In by Standing Out: Inter-firm Mobility among International Law Firms in Hong Kong

Jeroen Kuilman
Department of Organization and Strategy
Tilburg University, The Netherlands

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Pound 108
Harvard Law School
Lunch will be provided!

We draw upon an in-depth longitudinal analysis of the labor market for attorneys in international law firms in Hong Kong to understand the impact of category membership and social status on inter-firm mobility. In contrast to prior literature, we examine multiple levels of analysis and consider the influence of both organizational and individual category memberships and status. A central finding of this study is that while category spanning by employees tends to reduce inter-firm mobility, category spanning by organizations tends to promote such mobility. We also find that status operates differently at these two levels. While organizational status has a direct, non-monotonic relationship with inter-firm mobility, individual status instead moderates the consequences of category spanning at the employee-level. Combined, these findings contribute to a better and more complete understanding of the impact of the structural positioning of both employees and employing organizations on labor market mobility.

Jeroen Kuilman is associate professor in the Department of Organization and Strategy at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. From 2006 to 2009, Professor Kuilman was assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

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