P (2012) Appetite for destruction: The impact of the September 11 attacks on business founding. Indust. Corporate Change 21(1):127–149

y It is widely accepted that entrepreneurial creation affects destruction, as new and better organizations, technologies and transactions replace old ones. This phenomenon is labeled creative destruction, but it might more accurately be called destructive creation, given the driving role of creation in the process. We reverse the typical causal ordering, and ask whether destruction may drive creation. We argue that economic systems may get stuck in suboptimal equilibria due to path dependence, and that destruction may sweep away this inertia, and open the way for entrepreneurship. To test this idea, we need an exogenous destructive shock, rather than destruction that is endogenous to the process of economic progress. Our identification strategy relies on the September 11 attacks as an exogenous destructive shock to the economic system centered on New York City. Consistent with our theoretical claim, we find that 15 months after the attacks the rate of business founding close to New York City exceeds the rate before the attacks, even after controlling for the inflow of recovery funds. Furthermore, the increase in the business founding rate after the attacks grows faster closer to Manhattan than it does further away from the epicenter of destruction. JEL classification: L26, O31, O43

The Wal-Mart Effect: Wave of Destruction or Creative Destruction?

During the past quarter century, large multistore retailers have experienced considerable growth. In this article, we examine the widely held belief that the expansion of these chain stores, Wal-Mart in particular, has had a large negative impact on the small locally owned retail sector. Our analysis of four types of independent retailer entries and exits in Florida from 1980, prior to the opening of the first Wal-Mart store in the state, to 2004, reveals that Wal-Mart's impact varies with independent retailers' market overlap with and proximity to Wal-Mart. Notably, our findings suggest that within zip codes, the Wal-Mart effect is driven by the suppression of entry rates, but not by the increase in exit rates, while in adjacent zip codes, it is driven by exit rates increasing more than entry rates. Our results provide empirical evidence that may help economic developers, public officials, and owners of small businesses make informed decisions about economic development in their communities. Copyright (c) 2009 Clark University.

Evolution of R&D Capabilities: The Role of Knowledge Networks Within a Firm

In this paper, we suggest that the characteristics of individual positions in an intraorganizational network of inventors or intrafirm knowledge network predict the likelihood with which knowledge created by an inventor is used in the firm's research and development (R&D) activities. Such choices lead to path dependence and subsequent specialization. We provide empirical evidence that a firm's R&D is concentrated in those areas where it chooses to recombine knowledge, offering support for the path-dependent evolution of capabilities. We test this theory by analyzing the R&D networks in DuPont, a highly regarded Fortune 500 chemical company. Cox Proportional Regression models of intrafirm citations on network characteristics offer strong empirical support for our theory.R&D capabilities, knowledge networks, evolutionary, path dependence

Microfoundations of routines and capabilities : individuals, processes, and structure

This article introduces the Special Issue and discusses the microfoundations of routines and capabilities, including why a microfoundations view is needed and how it may inform work on organizational and competitive heterogeneity. Building on extant research, we identify three primary categories of micro‐level components underlying routines and capabilities: individuals, social processes, and structure. We discuss how these components, and their interactions, may affect routines and capabilities. In doing so, we outline a research agenda for advancing the field's understanding of the microfoundations of routines and capabilities