Administrative Science Quarterly Online Table of Contents Alert
The December 2025 issue of Administrative Science Quarterly is available online:
Vol. 70, No. 4
This issue ends the year with our last essay in honor of our 70th volume, which focuses our attention on the need to study (and hopefully ameliorate) wicked crises. Additionally, this issue offers two empirical articles about how organizational and market outcomes differ by race. One focuses on the uneven racial reactivity to credit score evaluations, while the other demonstrates the disparate influence of work histories in hiring. A qualitative study of Chinese porcelain artists demonstrates how disintermediation of the art markets leads to changes in expert autonomy. Finally, a paper tracing the development of the biotherapeutic industry uncovers how religiosity influences the evolution of industry clusters in cases of morally contested technologies. Happy reading!
Wicked Crises and the (In)capacity to Act
Renate E. Meyer
This essay, in honor of ASQ's 70th volume, defines wicked crises and discusses two forces, organizational fragmentation and societal fragmentation, that weaken society's power to address such thorny problems. Reminding readers that crises can also be optimistic given their potential to spur positive action, the author calls for organization and management scholars to undertake studies that address the complex, interrelated nature of wicked crises and the fragmentation that characterizes their longevity.
A Racialized Engine of Anxiety? Race, Reactivity, and the Uneven Tax of Credit Scores
Davon Norris
Evaluations based on credit scores are known to generate anxiety, but is this effect uniform across populations? Shifting the traditional focus from the scores to the people being scored, this study shows that the experience of being scored differs across racial groups. In a mixed-methods study, the author's interviews and surveys reveal that Black participants experience higher anxiety about their credit scores compared to their White counterparts, regardless of whether respondents have high or low scores. The author enlists the work of W.E.B. DuBois and Frantz Fanon to develop a racialized reactivity perspective that accounts for the disparity in respondents' reactivity, emphasizing how credit scores can change the world rather than merely represent it.
Applying While Black: The Collateral Effects of Racial Differences in Work Histories
Prasanna Parasurama, Ming D. Leung, and Sharon Koppman
In this study, the authors reveal a previously unidentified driver of racial disparities in employment: work histories. Whereas prior scholarship has assumed that work histories are race neutral, this study pinpoints structural constraints that limit job-search strategies and available jobs for Black job seekers. Examining nearly 500,000 job applications at two U.S. technology companies, the authors show that experiencing and anticipating racial discrimination leads Black applicants to apply to and accept broader types of jobs than White applicants do, ultimately leading to less-specialized and competitive work histories. The findings thus extend our understanding about how supply- and demand-side choices in the labor market interact.
Art for Whose Sake? Managing Professional Autonomy and Empowered Clients in the Porcelain Capital of China
Siyin Chen, Marlys Christianson, and Chen-Bo Zhong
In the age of ubiquitous review platforms and disintermediated marketplaces, how do professionals safeguard their autonomy? Conducting a qualitative study of porcelain artists in China, the authors find that some experts preserve their autonomy by decomposing and distilling their expertise in order to incorporate clients' feedback into their art. Other experts, who see their work as indivisible, choose to forgo their autonomy in order to satisfy clients, or they relocate it by pursuing alternate career paths. The findings challenge traditional conceptions of professional autonomy and client compliance and offer new insights on creative work and cultural production.
Roadblock on the Highway to Heaven? The Effect of Religion on Cluster Development in Controversial Industries
Olga M. Khessina, Samira Reis, and Yisook Lim
Focusing on biotherapeutics firm entry rates in U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, the authors find that religion suppresses the developmental of industrial clusters when some religious denominations view an industry as morally controversial. The study theorizes three underlying processes in this suppressive effect related to levels of oppositional religiosity in regions: high negative attitudes among religious locals, the resistance of religious social movements, and the ecological impact of neighboring regions. The findings contribute to scholarship on cluster development and the role of religion in entrepreneurship.
Book Reviews
Ethan Mollick. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
Subrina Shen
Matt Beane. The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines
Jason Davis
Christopher Marquis. The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socializes Costs
Michael L. Barnett
Kara Swisher. Burn Book: A Tech Love Story
M. Diane Burton
Benjamin C. Waterhouse. One Day I'll Work for Myself: The Dream and Delusion That Conquered America
Robert Eberhart
Bruce G. Carruthers. The Economy of Promises: Trust, Power, and Credit in America
Mark S. Mizruchi
Ilana Gershon. The Pandemic Workplace: How We Learned to Be Citizens in the Office
Tsedal Neeley
Hatim A. Rahman. Inside the Invisible Cage: How Algorithms Control Workers
Matt Beane
Our student-run ASQ Blog features interviews with ASQ authors that offer insights into the research and writing process. To stay informed, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter on Substack for all the latest ASQ announcements and information.
Beth Bechky, University of California, Davis
------------------------------
Beth Bechky
Professor
UC Davis
Davis CA
------------------------------