ORGANIZATIONAL MORTALITY IN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRIES PART II - COUPLED CLOCKS

This paper presents the results of research on the effects of organiza tional level and population or industry-level clocks on organizational mortality rates. It reports estimates of a model in which the effect of organizational age varies by organizational size and the effect of density varies by population age. Analysis of data on the mortality ex periences of all firms that produced automobiles in Britain, France, G ermany, and the United States during 1885-1981 reveals complex pattern s of effects of organizational age and size. The results concerning de nsity and population age generally support a recent extension of the t heory of density-dependent organizational evolution.