People at ILR
people / faculty
Ben A. Rissing
Assistant Professor
Organizational Behavior
Overview
Ben Rissing studies employment-relevant decisions in organizations, including businesses, government, and academic institutions. His research contributes to the sociology, industrial relations, and management literature on work and organizations, labor markets, and regulation (both public and private) – while examining settings including immigrant work authorization decisions, university admissions assessments, and voluntary codes of conduct. Ben’s research seeks theoretical explanations, supported by empirical and qualitative analyses, to better understand complex social processes of managerial and policy importance. His teaching interests include organizational behavior, labor markets and employment, networks, and inequality.
Dr. Rissing earned his doctorate in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management; master’s degrees in management science and engineering management from MIT and Duke University, respectively; and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. Before joining Cornell University, Ben was the Hugh W. Pearson Visiting Professor of Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship at Brown University and a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Brown University Watson Institute for International Studies. He also previously conducted research as a Wertheim Fellow with the Harvard Law School.
Publications
Journal Articles
- Emilio J. Castilla, Ben Rissing. 2019. Best in Class: The Returns on Endorsement in Business School Admissions, Administrative Science Quarterly . 64(1):230–270. (DOI:10.1177/0001839218759965)
- Ben A. Rissing, Emilio J. Castilla. 2016. Testing Attestations: U.S. Unemployment and Immigrant Work Authorization, Industrial and Labor Relations Review . 69(5):1081–1113. (DOI:10.1177/0019793916639550)
- Ben A. Rissing, Emilio J. Castilla. 2014. House of Green Cards: Statistical or Preference-based Inequality in the Employment of Foreign Nationals, American Sociological Review . 79(6):1226-1255. (DOI:10.1177/0003122414553656)
- Richard M. Locke, Ben A. Rissing, Timea Pal. 2013. Complements or Substitutes? Private Codes, State Regulation and the Improvement of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains, British Journal of Industrial Relations . 51(3):519-552. (DOI:10.1111/bjir.12003)
- Emilio J. Castilla, George Lan, Ben A. Rissing. 2013. Social Networks and Employment: Mechanisms (Part 1), Sociology Compass . 7(12):999-1012. (DOI:10.1111/soc4.12096)
- Emilio J. Castilla, George Lan, Ben A. Rissing. 2013. Social Networks and Employment: Outcomes (Part 2), Sociology Compass . 7(12):1013-1026. (DOI:10.1111/soc4.12095)
- Ben A. Rissing, Emilio J. Castilla. 2012. Off to a Green Start? How State Agents Shape the Employment of Foreign Nationals by Citizenship, Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings . (DOI:10.5465/AMBPP.2012.260)
- Guillermina Jasso, Vivek Wadhwa, Gary Gereffi, Ben A. Rissing, Richard Freeman. 2010. How Many Highly Skilled Foreign-Born are Waiting in Line for U.S. Legal Permanent Residence?, International Migration Review . 44(2):477-498. (DOI:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2010.00812.x)
- Gary Gereffi, Vivek Wadhwa, Ben A. Rissing, Ryan Ong. 2008. Getting the Numbers Right: International Engineering Education in the United States, China and India, Journal of Engineering Education . 97(1):13-25. (DOI:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2008.tb00950.x)
Book Chapters
- Ben A. Rissing. 2013. Highly-skilled Information and Technology Migrant Workers. in Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley Blackwell, 2013. I. Ness and P. Bellwood. (1646-1651)
Book Reviews
- Ben A. Rissing. 2017. Book Review of The Diversity Bargain and Other Dilemmas of Race, Admissions, and Meritocracy at Elite Universities. in Administrative Science Quarterly. Sage Publications, 2017. (1-3)
- Ben A. Rissing. 2016. Book Review of Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs. in Organization Studies. Sage Publications, 2016. (1189-1192)
Honors and Awards
- Best Paper Proceedings Recipient, Academy of Management. 2019
- Faculty Fellow, Institute for the Social Sciences, Cornell University. 2019
- Giarratani Rising Star Award, Industry Studies Association. 2018
- Finalist, Research Paper Competition, Wharton People and Analytics Conference. 2017
- Class of 2017 Faculty and Staff Award, Cornell University. 2016
- Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, Brown University. 2015
- National Finalist, White House Fellows Program. 2014
- Best Paper Proceedings Recipient, Academy of Management. 2012
- Award Recipient, U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Research Paper Program. 2011