How Golden Parachutes Unfolded: Diffusion and Variation of a Controversial Practice
研究了金色降落伞合同在1980年代敌意收购浪潮中扩散时，其内容如何因组织和人口层面机制而发生变化，揭示了争议性实践在扩散过程中的变异规律。
We contribute to a growing focus on variation in diffusion processes by examining the ways in which contested practices are modified as they spread among adopters. Expanding on prior diffusion accounts, we argue that the extensiveness and similarity of a practice will vary in response to both population- and organization-level mechanisms. To examine these issues, we study variation in “golden parachute” contracts, a controversial corporate governance practice that emerged and spread widely during the hostile takeover wave of the 1980s. Using a concept network approach to analyze the composition of parachute plans, we find evidence of mechanisms that both increase and decrease extensiveness and variation of golden parachutes. Our findings hold implications for accounts of practice diffusion over contested terrain by revealing substantial variation in the course of diffusion.