Better Together: Using Meta-Analysis to Explore Complementarities between Ecological and Institutional Theories of Organization. Issue 11 (November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lander, Michel W.; Heugens, Pursey P.M.A.R.
• Is Part Of: Organization studies. Volume 38:Issue 11(2017)
• Page Start: 1573
• Page End: 1601
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Subjects: institutional analysis -- institutional theory -- organizational forms -- quantitative research design; Organizational sociology -- Periodicals; Organizational behavior -- Periodicals; Organization -- Periodicals; 302.35
• DOI: 10.1177/0170840616677629
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0170-8406

Abstract

While sharing intellectual ancestry, organizational ecology and institutionalism are rarely used conjointly to explain population dynamics. A rapprochement would nevertheless be fruitful, as the parsimonious models developed by ecologists are better able to explain organizational founding and failure when enriched with institutional variables. We present a meta-analysis of density dependence theory, which predicts a non-monotonic relationship between population density and organizational vital events. We show that ecology and institutionalism are 'better together' by extending this ecological framework in four institutionalism-inspired ways. First, we show that the effects of density on organizational vital rates are moderated by two conceptions of time: ecological 'clocks' and institutional 'eras'. Second, we argue that the socio-political legitimacy of organizational forms, a concept with strong institutional roots, exacerbates density-related founding while attenuating failure. Third, we illustrate how the emergence of prototypical categories in organizational fields can increase the magnitude of density effects. Fourth, we highlight how these socio-political legitimacy and categorization effects are conditioned by ecological clock time. We close by proposing a concise agenda for future research, aimed at finding a better balance between the generality and explanatory power of our most trusted organizational theories.