Session Summary

Session Number:254
Session ID:S203
Session Title:Dynamic Models of Product, Organizational, and Institutional Competition (Institutions)
Short Title:Competitive Dynamics (I)
Session Type:Division Joint Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:GndBall E
Time:Wednesday, August 11, 1999 8:30 AM - 10:20 AM

Sponsors

BPS  (Ming-Jer Chen)BPS99@wharton.upenn.edu (215) 898-0018 
OMT  (Joseph Porac)j-porac@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 244-7969 

General People

Chair Silverman, Brian S. Harvard U. bsilverman@hbs.edu (617) 495-6729 
Discussant Levinthal, Daniel A. U. of Pennsylvania levinthal@wharton.upenn.edu (215) 898-6826 

Submissions

Providing access to more than access: Services in the commercial internet access market 
Presenter Greenstein, Shane M. Northwestern U. s-greenstein1@nwu.edu (847) 467-5672  
Determinants of product survival in the laser printer industry 
Presenter de Figueiredo, John M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology jdefig@mit.edu 617-258-7253 
Presenter Kyle, Margaret K. Massachusetts Institute of Technology mkkyle@mit.edu 617-269-4014 
Predators or Prey? The effect of local competitors' economic health on motor carrier survival 
Presenter Nickerson, Jack A. Washington U. nickerson@wuolin.wustl.edu 314-935-6374 
Presenter Silverman, Brian S. Harvard U. bsilverman@hbs.edu (617) 495-6729 
Competition in the supply of political order: State power and kibbutz founding, 1910-1996 
Presenter Simons, Tal  Tel Aviv U. tsimons@post.tau.ac.il 972-3-640-6492 
Presenter Ingram, Paul  Columbia U. pi17@columbia.edu 212-854-2740 

Abstract

The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in dynamic models of strategic and organizational phenomena. This has been driven in part by the (re)discovery of disequilibria in strategy - for example, the incorporation of insights from evolutionary economics into resource-based and dynamic capabilities views of the firm. There has also been a concurrent push toward dynamic approaches to organization theory, through ecological and evolutionary frameworks. This symposium is intended to fit squarely within the current interest in dynamic models, and to extend both empirical and theoretical state of the art. The symposium's four papers view the same fundamental issue - competitive dynamics - at different (and complementary) levels of analysis, thus allowing for consideration how dynamic models perform across levels. The papers draw from economics, sociology, and organization theory, thus highlighting cross-disciplinary commonalities and conflicts regarding competitive dynamics and contributing to an integration of organizational and economic approaches to dynamic phenomena. All four papers employ unusually rich and detailed data sets to support sophisticated empirical tests, and two of the papers represent the inaugural use of new, painstakingly developed databases - one on internet service providers, and one on laser printers. The discussant will illuminate both key insights from each paper and the broader themes that emerge from the cumulative work. We hope this symposium will spark spirited discussion among attendees, presenters, and general participants.