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The theory of path dependence continues to attract great interest in a range of disciplines. An increasing number of scholars have started to explicitly use this theory for studying organizational inertia and institutional rigidities. This volume presents a collection of papers from various international conferences that address these issues.

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PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Path Dependency in Institutions and Organizations; G.Schreyogg & J.Sydow Slippery Paths of (Mis)Understanding? Historically Based Explanations in Social Science; D.Breznitz PART II: PATH DEPENDENCY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS Imprinting, Path Dependence and Metaroutines: The Genesis and Development of the Toyota Production System; H.van Driel & W.Dolfsma Path Dependency, Institutionalization and the Demise of two Public Institutions; S.Kuipers & A.Boin PART III: STRATEGIC PATH DEPENDENCY Path Dependence Through Corporate Political Activity; J.Siedentopp & A.Sollner Continuity in Change: Path Dependence and Transformation in two Swedish Multinationals; O.Brunninge & L.Melin PART IV: PATH-DEPENDENT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT Modularity, Path Dependency and the Offshoring of (Some) Physician Services; M.Stack & M.Gartland The Horse´s Hoof: Social Identity and Path Creation in the Equine Industry; K.Koput & D.Olson Path Dependence and Public Timber Auctions - Historical Analysis of the Social Construction of a Merchant Institution to Sell France´s Public Timber; G.Marty Path Dependency, Lock-in, and the Emergence of Clusters: The Case of Istanbul´s Film Cluster; O.Oz & K.Ozkaracalar Regional Clusters and Path Dependency: The Case of Stuttgart; G.Fuchs PART V: PATH DEPENDENCY OF POLICY AND INSTITUTIONS Explaining Path Dependence through Discourse Analysis: The Case of Seasonal Farm Workers in Germany; S.Hess, D.Kleinschmit, L.Theuvsen, S.von Cramon-Taubadel & U.Zschache Institutional Path Dependency: A Resistance to Controversies; K.van Nieuwaal PART VI: PERSPECTIVES ON A THEORY OF PATH DEPENDENCY Path Dependency and Strategy Evolution; R.Burgelman Living with ´Lock-in´: Path-Constrained Melioration and its Consequences in the Evolution of Non-Ergodic Systems; P.David

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JÖRG SYDOW is Professor of Management at Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Innsbruck, the University of Vienna (both Austria), and the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. From 2004-2007 he was an international Visiting Fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), London.

GEORG SCHREYÖGG is Professor of Organization and Leadership at Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. His current research interests include organizational change, organizational capabilities and path dependency. He received his doctorate in Business Administration from the Universität Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany. In 2005-6 he served as President of the German Association of University Teachers for Business Administration (VHB).

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