Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity in Founding Patterns

Gino Cattani (), Johannes Pennings and Filippo Carlo Wezel ()
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Gino Cattani: Department of Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Locust Walk, 2000 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Filippo Carlo Wezel: Department of Organization and Strategy, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

Organization Science, 2003, vol. 14, issue 6, 670-685

Abstract: A growing body of literature suggests that populations of organizations are not homogeneous, but instead comprise distinct subentities. Firms are highly dependent on their immediate institutional and competitive environments. The present paper further explores this issue by focusing on the spatial and temporal sources of industry heterogeneity. Our goal is threefold. First, we explore founding rates as a function of spatial density, arguing that density-dependent processes occur along a geographic gradient ranging from proximate, to neighboring, to more distant contexts. Second, we show how multiple, local evolutionary clocks shape such entrepreneurial activity. Third, we provide evidence on how diffusion processes are directly affected by social contagion, with new organizational forms spreading through movements of individuals. Results from data on the Dutch accounting industry corroborate these patterns of heterogeneity.

Keywords: Density-Dependence, Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity, Social Contagion; Industry Evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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