Center for Culture, Organizations and Politics - Previously Affiliated

Following the organizational ecology tradition, I view independent and chain organizations as two distinct organizational forms, each with potentially separate functions within the community (Hannan and Freeman 1986; Hawley 1986; Rao 2002). The marked dissimilarities between these forms exist to attract unique resources, providing sustenance to that particular form. I test hypotheses regarding what these resources are and how they influence organizational survival. I find support for the models, providing insight into the diversity of an organizational population and the cultural factors that attenuate its heterogeneity. The empirical setting is retail bookstores in California from 1990-2003.