My research focuses on social networks, professional norms, compliance and accountability. I examine how social structures and systems of accountability shape professional practices using large-scale longitudinal data and social network methods.
My dissertation examined the role of physician professional networks in high-risk prescribing during the U.S. prescription drug epidemic and led to publications in Administrative Science Quarterly and Organization Science. Related research documents broader patterns of high-risk prescribing and unmet healthcare needs in the United States, with publications in JAMA, JAMA Psychiatry, Health Affairs, and Psychiatric Services. My ongoing research examines how professional practices evolve in response to social and institutional forces.
Research Articles
Zhang, V., Mohliver, A., & King, M. (2023). “Where is all the Deviance? Liminal Prescribing and the Social Networks Underlying the Prescription Drug Crisis”, Administrative Science Quarterly
Winner of Responsible Research in Management Award (RRMB)
Featured in Organizational Musings blog: Feeding Addiction: Why Do Doctors Over- Prescribe Dangerous Drugs?
WSB press release: Loners, not bad apples, are fueling the prescription drug crisis
Zhang, V. & King, M. (2021), “Tie Decay and Dissolution: Contentious Prescribing Practices in the Prescription Drug Epidemic”, Organization Science
Olfson, M., Zhang, V., Schoenbaum, M., & King, M. (2020), “Trends in Buprenorphine Treatment in the United States, 2009-2018”, JAMA
Olfson, M., Zhang, V. (2021), King, M., & Mojtabai, R. “Changes in Buprenorphine Prescriptions Following Medicaid Expansion” Psychiatric Services
Olfson, M., Zhang, V., Schoenbaum, M., & King, M. (2020), “Buprenorphine Treatment by Primary Care Providers, Psychiatrists and Addiction Specialists, and Other Prescribers”, Health Affairs
Zhang, V., Olfson, M., & King, M. (2019). “Opioid and Benzodiazepine Coprescribing in the United States Before and After US Food and Drug Administration Boxed Warning”, JAMA Psychiatry
Clustering of high-risk prescribing in physician networks; darker color indicates higher intensity opioid prescribing