ON THE HISTORICAL EFFICIENCY OF COMPETITION BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL POPULATIONS

Much organizational theory and research uses an equilibrium assumption known as historical efficiency. This assumption implies that observed distributions of organizations at any point in time reflect the uniqu e outcomes of underlying systematic processes, independent of historic al details. In an attempt to assess the plausibility of this assumptio n in the context of organizational evolution, the authors use a well-e stablished model to simulate trajectories of competing organizational populations. The findings show that path-dependent processes can often generate outcomes other than those implied by historical efficiency. Implications for theory and research are discussed.