Abstract

The first essay studies the impact of kinship by distinguishing between two forms of nepotism on the career outcome of the show business families’ descendants. We show that within more modern industries which are characterized by the boundaryless career environment, direct nepotism is not as efficient as indirect nepotism. We hypothesize that indirect forms of nepotism are evident in the form of network sponsorship by third-party associates of prominent show business families in the Hollywood movie industry. This study predicts that sponsorship will have significant beneficial effects on show business family relatives' career performance and that the effect is accentuated for women in show business families. We find strong support for our sponsorship hypotheses, but we also note the continuing importance of direct forms of family preferment in an industry characterized by single-project organizations and boundaryless careers.
The second essay studies the extended definition of kinship, namely Marriage. It poses the question of whether contemporary intra-professional marriage may be a type of elective affinity (McKinnon, 2010), an institution used reciprocally to further the professional careers of two individuals. The study hypothesizes that marriage benefits spouses by allowing them to capitalize on each other’s accumulated social capital to increase their employability.
Moreover, marriage benefits spouses by allowing them to capitalize on Alter’s accumulated social capital to ascend the industry executive hierarchy by being hired in managerial roles. Also, marriage disproportionately benefits women by enabling female ego to capitalize on male spouse accumulated social capital such that gender bias can be overcome by enabling female ego’s increased involvement in projects and managerial roles. Our study indicates that marriage between Hollywood industry participants and the potential for borrowed spousal capital creates benefits both parties. It demonstrates that the extent to which alter has extensive connections, centrality, and better status, will benefit in terms of more opportunities for employment. Moreover, interestingly, a closed network with more constraint is also beneficial in project-based industries.
The final essay investigates the impact of positive status shift for a member of a show business family and its possible positive or negative reputations spillover effect on the other members of the family. Family members’ impact on individuals’ career choices, career paths, and career development has been a topic for empirical research for a few decades. However, whether a positive status shift would generate spillover benefits to those closely associated with the winners remains understudied.