Laura Doering
PhD CandidateMA, Sociology, University of Chicago
MA, International Social Development, University of New South Wales
BA, Psychology, Dartmouth College
Email: ldoering
Curriculum Vita: CV
I am pursuing a joint PhD in Sociology and Organizations & Markets (Department of Sociology and Booth School of Business). My dissertation focuses on financialization, organizational emergence and innovation. Examining the emergence of small businesses in the United States and Panama, I explore how access to financial and social capital shapes the organizational founding process. I ask questions such as: How does one transition from being someone who is not founding an organization to someone who is? How do small business owners reduce uncertainty in founding innovative organizations? How do small business owners and financial institutions negotiate the meanings of growth and credit in a young lending market? I rely on interviews with small business owners, ethnographic observations at a Panamanian microlending bank, and survey data from American entrepreneurs to address these questions.
