9 History to Theory
Organizational Ecology, Economics, Resource Dependence
Introduction
Differently from the research reported in the previous chapter, where theoretical insights were often gained from the analysis of case studies examining one or more specific organizations or organizational fields, the studies reviewed next have almost exclusively resorted to history as a source of quantitative data. But while the empirical material, the level of analysis and the methodology used are different, these research programs still belong to what this book calls “history to theory” where the past is employed as a source of data or evidence with the purpose of developing, testing, refining or elaborating theory. If anything, because most of these ...
