Most analysts of corporations and industries adopt the focal perspective
of a single prototypical organization. Many analysts also study
corporations primarily in terms of their internal organizational
structures or as complex systems of financial contracts. Glenn Carroll
and Michael Hannan bring fresh insight to our understanding of
corporations and the industries they comprise by looking beyond
prototypical structures to focus on the range and diversity of
organizations in their social and economic setting. The result is a rich
rendering of analysis that portrays whole populations and communities of
corporations.
The Demography of Corporations and Industries is the first book to
present the demographic approach to organizational studies in its
entirety. It examines the theory, models, methods, and data used in
corporate demographic research. Carroll and Hannan explore the processes
by which corporate populations change over time, including
organizational founding, growth, decline, structural transformation, and
mortality. They review and synthesize the major theoretical mechanisms
of corporate demography, ranging from aging and size dependence to
population segregation and density dependence. The book also explores
some selected implications of corporate demography for public policy,
including employment and regulation.
In this path-breaking book, Carroll and Hannan demonstrate why
demographic research on corporations is important; describe how to
conduct demographic research; specify fruitful areas of future research;
and suggest how the demographic perspective can enrich the public
discussion of issues surrounding the corporation in our constantly
evolving industrial society. All researchers and analysts with an
interest in this topic will find The Demography of Corporations and
Industries an invaluable resource.
