published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.

The Swedish coastal defence took on a whole new meaning after the introduction of the coastal artillery in 1902. The establishment of the coastal artillery meant that the Swedish military had access to a whole new military branch, in addition to the Army and the Navy. Under the direction of one general, two regiments were established. One in Vaxholm and the second in the naval city of Karlskrona. The aim of this essay is to investigate how the Costal Artillery were established, by analyzing the parliamentary of the year 1901. I also analyzed one of Karlskronas local newspapers of the time, and see what is written about the new military branch.

This study traces the development of the American public accounting profession from 1927 to 1962. Over the course of these thirty-five years, accounting evolved from an insular, divided group whose professional competence and independence was doubted, even by its own members, to one that spoke with one united national voice, proudly asserted its ability to take on additional responsibilities, and had cemented an essential place in the American economy. The study makes use of archival sources, included large portions of the papers of George O. May, the doyen of the old Wall Street elite whose correspondence into the 1950's reflects the profession's development, and provides the first study of the accounting profession's response to the union corruption scandals. I look at the major events that caused this evolution, including the writings of William Z. Ripley, the New Deal and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the McKesson-Robbins scandal, the Second World War, the postwar economic expansion, and the union corruption scandals. I show how these events forced the profession to accept the responsibilities American society demanded of it, and how the leadership of the profession passed from a Wall Street-centered elite that styled itself after a British ideal of the professional as a disinterested, independent gentleman who did not promote himself and whose integrity and expertise did not require rigid rules of conduct, to a new generation that embraced a more modern ideal of the professional, one who followed strict rules of conduct and educational requirements, and who embraced a broader vision of public accountancy's responsibilities to American society, as evidenced by the prominent public role the American Institute of CPA's took when Congress looked to impose stricter regulations on trade unions and pensions in the wake of the union corruption scandals of the late 1950's. Finally, I evaluate the consequences of this evolution, consequences that I believe persisted into the twenty-first century with the debate over non-audit services in the wake of the Enron scandal.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-66a).

Despite documented threats and challenges to professional workers, occupations and professions of all kinds remain motivated to pursue professionalization projects aimed at improving their social location. However, to drive professionalization from within an occupation means resisting or adapting to a variety of pressures from other professions, managerial organizations, and neoliberal government agendas. Emerging research has highlighted that some professions can adapt to or resist these pressures, while others falter. How intraprofessional dynamics impact professionalization in these conditions is less understood. This thesis aims to address this gap through a qualitative case study of paramedic professionalization in Ontario, Canada. Data from interviews with paramedic leaders and a document analysis were used to examine how intraprofessional dynamics have impacted paramedic professionalization. Drawing on various theoretical and conceptual threads from neo-Weberianism and neo-institutional theory, each empirical chapter examines a topic related to professionalization: regulation, higher education, and expansions in work. The findings of each chapter reveal widespread intraprofessional stratification, and at times, conflict. Some paramedic leaders are driven to improve paramedic status, recognition, and autonomy, however, must do so in increasingly flexible, collaborative, and subtle ways. While intentional stratification is at times pursued as an innovative strategy in response to organizational and government pressures and mandates, it comes at a cost to professional unity. Others are resistant or skeptical of professionalization that may change the physical, boots-on-the-ground ethos of frontline paramedics. The finding of this thesis sheds light on the intraprofessional dynamics of an understudied occupation and how they relate to contemporary scholarly debates about the processes and outcomes of contemporary professionalization. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / Professions are a special type of occupation that has high social status. Social scientists have long studied how occupations try to gain status and recognition, a process called professionalization. In recent years, researchers have highlighted that it may be more challenging for occupations to professionalize as they face pressures from governments and their employers. This thesis aims to contribute to this research by presenting three papers examining paramedic professionalization in Ontario, Canada through the eyes of paramedic leaders and documents. Paper 1 found that paramedic leaders are divided on the need for changes to paramedic regulation to professionalize. Papers 2 and 3 found that paramedics are pursuing new roles for paramedics in healthcare and academics as a professionalization strategy. Paramedics face an internal conflict that has limited their ability to pursue a collective professionalization strategy. If differences across the profession cannot be resolved, it may continue to fracture the profession.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Also available in print.

The definitive flexibility, informality, and diversity of use make alternative dispute resolution (ADR) a unique field that deserves the time and effort it will take to determine best practice for establishing it as a true profession. That being said, before we begin the battle for legitimization we must not forget the heart and soul of the field, its practitioners. In the face of the unsure status of ADR as a field, there are many barriers currently affecting potential practitioners of ADR preventing the success of both these new members and the field itself.

Small businesses significantly rely on debt financing. However, it is challenging for them to convince the lenders on their creditworthiness because of the agency problems rooted in information asymmetry. Professionalization, as one of the signal devices, may carry positive information about a small firm since it helps enhance the firm value by aligning owner and managers interests. If firm value goes up, the financial leverage drops without any new external debt financing. Thus, it is safer for the lenders to provide the capital. Unfortunately, whether professionalization helps mitigate the lender-borrower conflict of interest has not been investigated in the previous literature. This study intends to help fill in this gap by investigating the influence of professionalization on small business debt financing. Our empirical results show that professionalization tends to increase the use and the amount of new venture debt financing. Findings also indicate that the solution to owner-manager agency problem can also help alleviate the creditor-shareholder conflict of interests in new venture debt financing.

Small businesses significantly rely on debt financing. However, it is challenging for them to convince the lenders on their creditworthiness because of the agency problems rooted in information asymmetry. Professionalization, as one of the signal devices, may carry positive information about a small firm since it helps enhance the firm value by aligning owner and managers interests. If firm value goes up, the financial leverage drops without any new external debt financing. Thus, it is safer for the lenders to provide the capital. Unfortunately, whether professionalization helps mitigate the lender-borrower conflict of interest has not been investigated in the previous literature. This study intends to help fill in this gap by investigating the influence of professionalization on small business debt financing. Our empirical results show that professionalization tends to increase the use and the amount of new venture debt financing. Findings also indicate that the solution to owner-manager agency problem can also help alleviate the creditor-shareholder conflict of interests in new venture debt financing.