I construct theoretical models of the founding, failure, and growth of organizations that, when combined, constitute an explanation of the process by which the number of organizations in a population (the population density) declines from a peak, while at the same time the population mass (the aggregate size of the organizations in the population) continues to increase. Empirical results from analyses of the vital rates of credit unions in New York City are generally supportive of the models. The results of computer simulations are consistent with empirically observed trajectories of density and mass for the credit union data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichHoward E. and AusterEllen R.. 1986. “Even Dwarfs Started Small: Liabilities of Age and Size and their Strategic Implications.” Pp. 165–98 in Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 8, edited by StawB. M. and CummingsL. L.. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
2.
Aptech Sytems, Inc.1992. GAUSS. Release 3.1. Maple VallCy, WA: Aptech Systems, Inc.
3.
AudretschDavid B.1995. Innovation and Industry Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4.
AudretschDavid B.1997. “Technological Regimes, Industrial Demography and the Evolution of Industrial Structures.” Industrial and Corporate Change6: 49–82.
5.
BainJoe S.1956. Barriers to New Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6.
BarnettWilliam P.1997. “The Dynamics of Competitive Intensity.” Administrative Science Quarterly42: 128–60.
7.
BarnettWilliam P. and AmburgyTerry L.. 1990. “Do Larger Organizations Generate Stronger Competition?” Pp. 78–102 in Organizational Evolution: New Directions, edited by SinghJ. V.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
8.
BarronDavid N.1992. “The Analysis of Count Data: Over-Dispersion and Autocorrelation.” Sociological Methodology22: 179–220.
9.
BarronDavid N.1995. “Credit Unions.” Pp. 137–62 in Organizations in Industry, edited by CarrollG. R. and HannanM. T.. New York: Oxford University Press.
10.
BarronDavid N.1998. “Pathways to Legitimacy among Consumer Loan Providers in New York City, 1914–34.” Organization Studies19: 207–33.
11.
BarronDavid N., WestElizabeth, and HannanMichael T.. 1994. “A Time to Grow and a Time to Die: Growth and Mortality of Credit Unions in New York City, 1914–1990.” American Journal of Sociology100: 381–421.
12.
BarronDavid N., WestElizabeth, and HannanMichael T.. 1995. Competition, Deregulation, and the Fortunes of Credit Unions. Madison, WI: Filene Research Institute.
13.
BaumJoel A. C.1995. “The Changing Basis of Competition in Organizational Populations: The Manhattan Hotel Industry, 1898–1990.” Social Forces74: 177–205.
14.
BaumJoel A. C.1996. “Organizational Ecology.” Pp. 77–114 in Handbook of Organization Studies, edited by CleggS. R., HardyC., and NordW. R.. London, England: Sage.
15.
BaumJoel A. C. and MeziasStephen J.. 1992. “Localized Competition and Organizational Failure in the Manhattan Hotel Industry, 1898–1990.” Administrative Science Quarterly37: 580–604.
16.
BooneChristophe and van WitteloostuijnArjen. 1995. “Industrial Organization and Organizational Ecology: The Potentials for Cross-Fertilization.” Organization Studies16: 265–98.
17.
BruderlJosef and SchusslerRudolf. 1990. “Organizational Mortality: The Liabilities of Newness and Adolescence.” Administrative Science Quarterly35: 530–47.
18.
CarrollGlenn R.1985. “Concentration and Specialization: Dynamics of Niche Width in Populations of Organizations.” American Journal of Sociology90: 1262–83.
19.
CarrollGlenn R. and Richard HarrisonJ.. 1994. “On the Historical Efficiency of Competition between Organizational Populations.” American Sociological Review100: 720–49.
20.
CarrollGlenn R. and HannanMichael T.. 1989. “Density Delay in the Evolution of Organizational Populations: A Model and Five Empirical Tests.” Administrative Science Quarterly34: 411–30.
21.
CarrollGlenn R. and HannanMichael T.. 1995. “Automobile Manufacturers.” Pp. 195–214 in Organizations in Industry, edited by CarrollG. R. and HannanM. T.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
22.
DobbinFrank. 1995. “Railroads.” Pp. 59–86 in Organizations in Industry, edited by CarrollG. R. and HannanM. T.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
23.
DosiGiovanni, MalerbaFranco, MarsiliOrietta, and OrsenigoLuigi. 1997. “Industrial Structures and Dynamics: Evidence, Interpretations and Puzzles.” Industrial and Corporate Change6: 3–24.
24.
DownieJack. 1958. The Competitive Process. London, England: Duckworth.
25.
GalbraithJohn K.1972. The New Industrial Nation. London, England: Andre Deutsch.
26.
GeorgeKenneth D., JollCaroline, and LynkE. L.. 1992. Industrial Organisation: Competition, Growth and Structural Change. London, England: Routledge.
27.
HannanMichael T.1989. “Competitive and Institutional Processes in Organizational Ecology.” Pp. 388–402 in Sociological Theories in Progress: New Foundations, edited by BergerJ., ZeldichM.Jr., and AndersenB.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
28.
HannanMichael T.1997. “Inertia, Density and the Structure of Organizational Populations: Entries in European Automobile Industries, 1886–1981.” Organization Studies18: 193–228.
29.
HannanMichael T. and CarrollGlenn R.. 1992. Dynamics of Organizational Populations. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
30.
HannanMichael T. and FreemanJohn. 1984. “Structural Inertia and Organizational Change.” American Sociological Review49: 149–64.
31.
HannanMichael T. and FreemanJohn. 1987. “The Ecology of Organizational Foundings: American Labor Unions, 1836–1985.” American Journal of Sociology92: 910–43.
32.
HannanMichael T. and FreemanJohn. 1988. “The Ecology of Organizational Mortality: American Labor Unions, 1836–1985.” American Journal of Sociology94: 25–52.
33.
HannanMichael T. and FreemanJohn. 1989. Organizational Ecology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
HannanMichael T., WestElizabeth, and BarronDavid N.. 1994. Dynamics of Credit Unions in New York. Madison, WI: Filene Research Institute.
35.
HannanMichael T., DobrevStanislav, HanJoon, and TorresJohn C.. 1998. “Organizational Mortality in European and American Automobile Indutries. Part II: Coupled Clocks.” European Sociological Review.
36.
HirschPaul M.1975. “Organizational Effectiveness and the Institutional Environment.” Administrative Science Quarterly20: 327–44.
37.
HughesAlan. 1994. “The ‘Problems’ of Finance for Smaller Businesses.” Pp. 209–34 in Capital Markets and Corporate Governance, edited by DimsdaleN. H. and PrevezerM.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
38.
IjiriYuji and SimonHerbert A.. 1964. “Business Firm Growth and Size.” American Economic Review54: 77–89.
39.
JovanovichBoyan and MacDonaldGlenn M.. 1994. “The Life Cycle of a Competitive Industry.” Journal of Political Economy102: 322–47.
40.
KlepperSteven. 1996. “Entry, Exit, Growth, and Innovation over the Product Life Cycle.” American Economic Review86: 562–83.
41.
LeblebiciHuseyin. 1995. “Radio Broadcasters.” Pp. 308–31 in Organizations in Industry, edited by CarrollG. R. and HannanM. T.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
MalerbaFranco and OrsenigoLuigi. 1996. “The Dynamics and Evolution of Industries.” Industrial and Corporate Change5: 51–87.
44.
MasonEdward S.1957. Economic Concentration and Monopoly Problem. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
45.
MorrisMartina. 1994. “Epidemiology and Social Networks: Modeling Structured Diffusion.” Pp. 26–52 in Advances in Social Network Analysis, edited by WassermanS. and GalaskiewiczJ.. London, England: Sage.
46.
NelsonRichard R. and WinterSidney G.. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
47.
PfefferJeffrey and SalancikGerald R.. 1978. The External Control of Organizations. New York: Harper Row.
48.
SuttonJohn. 1991. Sunk Costs and Market Structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
49.
ThompsonJames D.1967. Organizations in Action. New York: McGraw-Hill.
50.
TumaNancy Brandon and HannanMichael T.. 1984. Social Dynamics: Models and Methods. New York: Academic Press.
51.
TushmanMichael L. and AndersonPhilip. 1986. “Technological Discontinuities and Organizational Environments.” Administrative Science Quarterly31: 439–65.
52.
WinterSidney G.1984. “Schumpeterian Competition in Alternative Technological Regimes.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization5: 287–320.
