information for prospective

graduate students




My work is concerned with understanding the nature of the transformations that contemporary societies are undergoing and, as such, is oriented toward a set of classic sociological concerns. I teach and do research in the areas social stratification and inequality, comparative and historical sociology, economic and political sociology, and international development. My research primarily concerns North American and European societies and presently addresses the four topics detailed below. Nearly all of this work is being conducted in collaboration with students at Bloomington. I invite you to consult my curriculum vitae for further details on my research and for information on the range of Ph.D. Committees on which I have served in the past.

1. income distribution
  I am studying both long-run and contemporary patterns of income inequality. I am researching the relationship between inequality and development, contemporary trends in inequality, and the role of a range of factors (e.g., political, institutional, compositional) in shaping the distribution of income.
2. globalization of production
  I am interested in understanding and explaining transnational production and some of its consequences. In this line of my research, I am studying multinational enterprises, trends in direct investment, and the implications of globalization for factors such as the employment share of different sectors and the distribution of income.
3. world city system
  I am exploring inter-city relations and the changing global urban hierarchy. In this line of my research, I am mapping the evolution of the world city system across the current period of globalization and exploring the implications of the different positions and roles that are emerging in that system for cities and their residents.
4. status, lifestyle, cultural consumption
  I am examining how social inequality affects preferences and patterns of consumption. I am working on the contemporary U.S. status order, the role of social status in defining different styles of cultural consumption, theoretical and empirical specification of emerging cultural styles, and the relationship between work, leisure, and time pressures.