Zhongyuan Sun

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Organizational ecology and demography

Founding, mortality, inertia, niches and density dependence.

Of its 79 readings, 34 are assigned in two or more sources and listed first, with the number of sources beside each (in bold for the core readings, in 4 or more); the 45 listed in only one source are folded under each heading.

In the theory tree: grows out of 3 Contingency and configurational theory; leads to 6 Entrepreneurship and new organizations and 9 Categories, identity and authenticity.

Drawn from: Maoret (IESE); Pollock (Tennessee); Zuckerman (MIT); Marquis (HBS); Lu, Li, Park, Yang & Yan (CityU); Yue (USC); Dobbin (Harvard); Clough (UBC); Sullivan (HKUST); Lounsbury & Zhao (Oxford Bibliographies); Fiss (USC); Amit (Wharton); Anteby (Boston University); Jia (USC); Yao (HBS); DiMaggio (Princeton); Peng (UT Dallas); Martin (Berkeley); Kogut & Keum (Columbia). Full details of the sources are on the reading lists page.

By decade

Before 1950: 0 readings<19501950s: 1 reading1950s1960s: 3 readings1960s1970s: 3 readings1970s1980s: 15 readings1980s1990s: 31 readings311990s2000s: 18 readings2000s2010s: 8 readings2010s2020s: 0 readings2020s
Most date from the 1990s; half were published in 1995 or later.

Core readings

In 4 or more sources.

  1. Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1984). Structural Inertia and Organizational Change. American Sociological Review, 49(2), 149. https://doi.org/10.2307/209556712
  2. Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1977). The Population Ecology of Organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 82(5), 929–964. https://doi.org/10.1086/22642411
  3. Carroll, G. R., & Swaminathan, A. (2000). Why the Microbrewery Movement? Organizational Dynamics of Resource Partitioning in the U.S. Brewing Industry. American Journal of Sociology, 106(3), 715–762. https://doi.org/10.1086/3189629
  4. Stinchcombe, A. (1965). Social structure and organizations. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of Organizations (pp. 142–169). Rand McNally.8
  5. Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1989). Organizational Ecology. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/97806740382886
  6. Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (2004). The Demography of Corporations and Industries. Princeton University Press.6
  7. Carroll, G. R. (1985). Concentration and Specialization: Dynamics of Niche Width in Populations of Organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 90(6), 1262–1283. https://doi.org/10.1086/2282105
  8. Haveman, H. A. (1993). Follow the Leader: Mimetic Isomorphism and Entry Into New Markets. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(4), 593. https://doi.org/10.2307/23933385
  9. Baum, J. A. C., & Powell, W. W. (1995). Cultivating an Institutional Ecology of Organizations: Comment on Hannan, Carroll, Dundon, and Torres. American Sociological Review, 60(4), 529. https://doi.org/10.2307/20962924

Also assigned

In 2 to 3 sources.

  1. McPherson, M. (1983). An Ecology of Affiliation. American Sociological Review, 48(4), 519. https://doi.org/10.2307/21177193
  2. Haveman, H. A. (1992). Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Organizational Change and Performance Under Conditions of Fundamental Environmental Transformation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(1), 48. https://doi.org/10.2307/23935333
  3. Baum, J. A. C., & Singh, J. V. (1994). Organizational Niches and the Dynamics of Organizational Founding. Organization Science, 5(4), 483–501. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.5.4.4833
  4. Hannan, M. T., & Carroll, G. R. (1995). Theory Building and Cheap Talk About Legitimation: Reply to Baum and Powell. American Sociological Review, 60(4), 539. https://doi.org/10.2307/20962933
  5. Podolny, J. M., Stuart, T. E., & Hannan, M. T. (1996). Networks, Knowledge, and Niches: Competition in the Worldwide Semiconductor Industry, 1984-1991. American Journal of Sociology, 102(3), 659–689. https://doi.org/10.1086/2309943
  6. Haveman, H. A., & Rao, H. (1997). Structuring a Theory of Moral Sentiments: Institutional and Organizational Coevolution in the Early Thrift Industry. American Journal of Sociology, 102(6), 1606–1651. https://doi.org/10.1086/2311283
  7. Sørensen, J. B., & Stuart, T. E. (2000). Aging, Obsolescence, and Organizational Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(1), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.2307/26669803
  8. Baum, J. C., & Amburgey, T. L. (2002). Organizational ecology. In J. A. C. Baum (Ed.), Companion to organizations. Blackwell.3
  9. Freeman, J. H., & Audia, P. G. (2006). Community Ecology and the Sociology of Organizations. Annual Review of Sociology, 32(1), 145–169. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.32.061604.1231353
  10. Blau, P. M. (1977). Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure. Free Press.2
  11. Freeman, J., & Hannan, M. T. (1983). Niche Width and the Dynamics of Organizational Populations. American Journal of Sociology, 88(6), 1116–1145. https://doi.org/10.1086/2277972
  12. Barnett, W. P., & Carroll, G. R. (1987). Competition and Mutualism among Early Telephone Companies. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32(3), 400. https://doi.org/10.2307/23929122
  13. Delacroix, J., Swaminathan, A., & Solt, M. E. (1989). Density Dependence Versus Population Dynamics: An Ecological Study of Failings in the California Wine Industry. American Sociological Review, 54(2), 245. https://doi.org/10.2307/20957932
  14. Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (1989). Density Dependence in the Evolution of Populations of Newspaper Organizations. American Sociological Review, 54(4), 524. https://doi.org/10.2307/20958752
  15. Miner, A. S., Amburgey, T. L., & Stearns, T. M. (1990). Interorganizational Linkages and Population Dynamics: Buffering and Transformational Shields. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(4), 689. https://doi.org/10.2307/23935142
  16. McPherson, J. M., Popielarz, P. A., & Drobnic, S. (1992). Social Networks and Organizational Dynamics. American Sociological Review, 57(2), 153. https://doi.org/10.2307/20962022
  17. Podolny, J. M., & Stuart, T. E. (1995). A Role-Based Ecology of Technological Change. American Journal of Sociology, 100(5), 1224–1260. https://doi.org/10.1086/2306372
  18. Hannan, M. T., Carroll, G. R., Dundon, E. A., & Torres, J. C. (1995). Organizational Evolution in a Multinational Context: Entries of Automobile Manufacturers in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. American Sociological Review, 60(4), 509. https://doi.org/10.2307/20962912
  19. Barnett, W. P. (1997). The Dynamics of Competitive Intensity. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.2307/23938112
  20. Cohen, L. E., Broschak, J. P., & Haveman, H. A. (1998). And Then There were More? The Effect of Organizational Sex Composition on the Hiring and Promotion of Managers. American Sociological Review, 63(5), 711. https://doi.org/10.2307/26573352
  21. Reskin, B. F., McBrier, D. B., & Kmec, J. A. (1999). The determinants and consequences of workplace sex and race composition. Annual Review of Sociology, 25(1), 335–361. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.3352
  22. Audia, P. G., Freeman, J. H., & Reynolds, P. D. (2006). Organizational Foundings in Community Context: Instruments Manufacturers and Their Interrelationship with Other Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(3), 381–419. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.51.3.3812
  23. Dobrev, S. D., & Kim, T.-Y. (2006). Positioning among Organizations in a Population: Moves between Market Segments and the Evolution of Industry Structure. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(2), 230–261. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.51.2.2302
  24. Hannan, M. T., Pólos, L., & Carroll, G. R. (2007). Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies. Princeton University. https://doi.org/10.1515/97814008430152
  25. Bermiss, Y. S., Hallen, B. L., McDonald, R., & Pahnke, E. C. (2017). Entrepreneurial beacons: The Yale endowment, run‐ups, and the growth of venture capital. Strategic Management Journal, 38(3), 545–565. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.25082

Further readings

45 more, listed in one source
  1. Gusfield, J. R. (1957). The Problem of Generations in an Organizational Structure. Social Forces, 35(4), 323–330. https://doi.org/10.2307/2573321
  2. Ryder, N. B. (1964). Notes on the Concept of a Population. American Journal of Sociology, 69(5), 447–463. https://doi.org/10.1086/223649
  3. Ryder, N. B. (1965). The Cohort as a Concept in the Study of Social Change. American Sociological Review, 30(6), 843. https://doi.org/10.2307/2090964
  4. Reed, T. L. (1978). Organizational Change in the American Foreign Service, 1925-1965: The Utility of Cohort Analysis. American Sociological Review, 43(3), 404. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094498
  5. Pfeffer, J. (1983). Organizational demography. In L. Cummings & B. Staw (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 5, pp. 299–357). JAI Press.
  6. Freeman, J., Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (1983). The Liability of Newness: Age Dependence in Organizational Death Rates. American Sociological Review, 48(5), 692. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094928
  7. DiMaggio, P. J. (1986). Structural Analysis of Organizational Fields: A Blockmodel Approach. Research in Organizational Behavior, 8, 335–370.
  8. Young, R. C. (1988). Is Population Ecology a Useful Paradigm for the Study of Organizations? American Journal of Sociology, 94(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1086/228949
  9. Brittain, J., & Wholey, D. R. (1989). Assessing Organizational Ecology as Sociological Theory: Comment on Young. American Journal of Sociology, 95(2), 439–444. https://doi.org/10.1086/229276
  10. Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (1989). Density Delay in the Evolution of Organizational Populations: A Model and Five Empirical Tests. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34(3), 411. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393151
  11. Freeman, J., & Hannan, M. T. (1989). Setting the Record Straight on Organizational Ecology: Rebuttal to Young. American Journal of Sociology, 95(2), 425–439. https://doi.org/10.1086/229275
  12. Bruderl, J., & Schussler, R. (1990). Organizational Mortality: The Liabilities of Newness and Adolescence. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(3), 530. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393316
  13. Singh, J. V., & Lumsden, C. J. (1990). Theory and Research in Organizational Ecology. Annual Review of Sociology, 16(1), 161–195. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.16.080190.001113
  14. Baum, J. A. C., & Oliver, C. (1991). Institutional Linkages and Organizational Mortality. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2), 187. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393353
  15. Levinthal, D. A. (1991). Random Walks and Organizational Mortality. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(3), 397. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393202
  16. Rao, H., & Neilsen, E. H. (1992). An Ecology of Agency Arrangements: Mortality of Savings and Loan Associations, 1960-1987. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(3), 448. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393452
  17. Hannan, M. T., & Carroll, G. R. (1992). Dynamics of Organizational Populations: Density, Legitimation, and Competition. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195071917.001.0001
  18. Baum, J. A. C., & Singh, J. V. (Eds.). (1992). Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195077360.001.0001
  19. Shenhav, Y., & Haberfeld, Y. (1992). Organizational Demography and Inequality. Social Forces, 71(1), 123. https://doi.org/10.2307/2579969
  20. Hawley, A. (1992). The Logic of Macrosociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 18(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.18.1.1
  21. Amburgey, T. L., Kelly, D., & Barnett, W. P. (1993). Resetting the Clock: The Dynamics of Organizational Change and Failure. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(1), 51. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393254
  22. Barnett, W. P., & Carroll, G. R. (1995). Modeling Internal Organizational Change. Annual Review of Sociology, 21(1), 217–236. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.21.080195.001245
  23. Popielarz, P. A., & McPherson, J. M. (1995). On the Edge or In Between: Niche Position, Niche Overlap, and the Duration of Voluntary Association Memberships. American Journal of Sociology, 101(3), 698–720. https://doi.org/10.1086/230757
  24. Wade, J. (1996). A Community Level Analysis of Sources and Rates of Technological Variation in the Microprocessor Market. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1218–1244. https://doi.org/10.2307/256997
  25. Ingram, P., & Baum, J. A. C. (1997). Chain Affiliation and the Failure of Manhattan Hotels, 1898-1980. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393809
  26. Lawrence, B. S. (1997). Perspective—The Black Box of Organizational Demography. Organization Science, 8(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.1.1
  27. Williams, K. Y., & O'Reilly, C. A. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: A review of 40 years of research. In B. Staw & L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 20, pp. 77–140).
  28. Sørensen, J. B. (1999). The ecology of organizational demography: Managerial tenure distributions and organizational competition. Industrial and Corporate Change.
  29. Sorensen, J., & Stuart, T. E. (2000). Aging, obsolescence, and organizational innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly.
  30. Dobrev, S. D., Kim, T., & Hannan, M. T. (2001). Dynamics of Niche Width and Resource Partitioning. American Journal of Sociology, 106(5), 1299–1337. https://doi.org/10.1086/320821
  31. Dobrev, S. D., Kim, T.-Y., & Carroll, G. R. (2002). The Evolution of Organizational Niches: U.S. Automobile Manufacturers, 1885–1981. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(2), 233–264. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094805
  32. Dobrev, S. D., Kim, T.-Y., & Carroll, G. R. (2003). Shifting Gears, Shifting Niches: Organizational Inertia and Change in the Evolution of the U.S. Automobile Industry, 1885–1981. Organization Science, 14(3), 264–282. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.14.3.264.15163
  33. Sørensen, J. B. (2004). Recruitment-Based Competition between Industries: A Community Ecology. Industrial and Corporate Change, 13, 149–170.
  34. Mezias, S. J., & Boyle, E. (2005). Blind Trust: Market Control, Legal Environments, and the Dynamics of Competitive Intensity in the Early American Film Industry, 1893–1920. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2005.50.1.1
  35. Echols, A., & Tsai, W. (2005). Niche and performance: the moderating role of network embeddedness. Strategic Management Journal, 26(3), 219–238. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.443
  36. Miller, S. R., & Eden, L. (2006). Local Density and Foreign Subsidiary Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 49(2), 341–355. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.20786081
  37. Greve, H. R., Pozner, J., & Rao, H. (2006). Vox Populi: Resource Partitioning, Organizational Proliferation, and the Cultural Impact of the Insurgent Microradio Movement. American Journal of Sociology, 112(3), 802–837. https://doi.org/10.1086/507853
  38. Haveman, H. A., & David, R. J. (2008). Ecologists and Institutionalists: Friends or Foes? In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, K. Sahlin, & R. Suddaby (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (pp. 573–595). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200387.n25
  39. Marquis, C., & Huang, Z. (2010). Acquisitions As Exaptation: The Legacy of Founding Institutions in the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1441–1473. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.57318393
  40. Le Mens, G., Hannan, M. T., & Pólos, L. (2011). Founding Conditions, Learning, and Organizational Life Chances: Age Dependence Revisited. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(1), 95–126. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2011.56.1.095
  41. Negro, G., Perretti, F., & Carroll, G. R. (2013). Challenger Groups, Commercial Organizations, and Policy Enactment: Local Lesbian/Gay Rights Ordinances in the United States from 1972 to 2008. American Journal of Sociology, 119(3), 790–832. https://doi.org/10.1086/673970
  42. Negro, G., Visentin, F., & Swaminathan, A. (2014). Resource Partitioning and the Organizational Dynamics of “Fringe Banking”. American Sociological Review, 79(4), 680–704. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414537644
  43. Boone, C., & Özcan, S. (2014). Why Do Cooperatives Emerge in a World Dominated by Corporations? The Diffusion of Cooperatives in the U.S. Bio-Ethanol Industry, 1978–2013. Academy of Management Journal, 57(4), 990–1012. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0194
  44. Brashears, M. E., Genkin, M., & Suh, C. S. (2017). In the Organization’s Shadow: How Individual Behavior Is Shaped by Organizational Leakage. American Journal of Sociology, 123(3), 787–849. https://doi.org/10.1086/693703
  45. Clifford, D. (2018). Neighborhood Context and Enduring Differences in the Density of Charitable Organizations: Reinforcing Dynamics of Foundation and Dissolution. American Journal of Sociology, 123(6), 1535–1600. https://doi.org/10.1086/697895