The Logic of Propagation Strategies: Axiomatizing a Fragment of Organizational Ecology in First-Order Logic

Gábor Péli and Michael Masuch
Additional contact information
Gábor Péli: University of Groningen, Faculty of Management and Organization, Groningen, The Netherlands
Michael Masuch: University of Amsterdam, Applied Logic Laboratory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Organization Science, 1997, vol. 8, issue 3, 310-331

Abstract: As a part of a larger effort to apply formal logic to organization science, we axiomatize the theory of propagation strategies (life history strategies) of Organization Ecology. We provide an axiomatic system in first-order logic that derives the theory's predictions as theorems from a set of underlying assumptions. First-order logic is widely seen as a standard language for the formalization of scientific theories; it couples considerable expressive power with acceptable computational properties. Our axiomatization increases the understanding on the scope and the limits of Organization Ecology, and yields a consistent theory of propagation strategies with a sound explanatory structure.

Keywords: logic; formal theory; organizational ecology; computer science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.3.310 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:8:y:1997:i:3:p:310-331

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().