A LOGICAL APPROACH TO FORMALIZING ORGANIZATIONAL ECOLOGY

Theories should be consistent and coherent. Unfortunately, inconsisten cy, incoherence, and other defects in logic are difficult to detect wh en a theory is stated in natural language (e.g., English). Translation into a formal logical language makes the theory's structure more expl icit, and better accessible for repair: Furthermore, new hypotheses ar e more easily derived in a logical language. We formalize Hannan and F reeman's theory of organizational inertia in first-order logic. We the n examine the logical properties of the formalized theory, provide new theorems about organizational inertia, and discuss the implications o f logical formalization for sociological theorizing.