Taking Sides: The Interactive Influences of Institutional Mechanisms on the Adoption of Same-Sex Partner Health Benefits by Fortune 500 Corporations, 1990–2003

We draw upon institutional theory to investigate the interactive influences of institutional mechanisms—coercive, mimetic, and normative—on the diffusion of a controversial and socially stigmatized practice, same-sex partner health benefits, in Fortune 500 corporations between 1990 and 2003. Given the social stigma associated with domestic partnerships of lesbians and gay men during the period of the study, the provision of these benefits was highly controversial and induced intense contestation between proponents and opponents of the institution of equal treatment for lesbian and gay employees. We explore the diffusion of theses benefits using data on cumulative adoptions by similar others, state laws forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation, and overall tenor in press coverage of the benefits. Our analysis shows that the cumulative number of adoptions within industry increased the positive effect of state laws on the corporation's decision to provide the benefits. However, the cumulative number of adoptions in the state of the corporation's headquarters decreased the positive effects of both state laws and overall tenor in press coverage on such a decision. Accordingly, our study contributes to institutional theory by pointing to complex interactive influences of institutional mechanisms on the institutionalization of contested practices, and to the literature on lesbian and gay issues in the workplace by studying factors influencing organizational decisions to adopt policies supportive of lesbian and gay employees.