ICC Advance Access originally published online on April 27, 2009
Industrial and Corporate Change 2009 18(3):507-528; doi:10.1093/icc/dtp010
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The dynamics of rapid industrial growth: evidence from Sweden's information technology industry, 1990–2004
Correspondence: Olof Zaring, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, School of Business Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, PO Box 625, SE 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden. e-mail: olof.zaring{at}handels.gu.se
Correspondence: C. Magnus Eriksson, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, School of Business Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, PO Box 625, SE 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden. e-mail: magnus.eriksson{at}handels.gu.se
Sweden's information technology (IT) industry expanded through an inflow of new entrants during the 1990s. Its evolution was analyzed using ecological models of organizational founding and disbanding. Controlling for the effects of economic conditions, this study analyzed the effects of density dependence, age, imprinting, rate dependence, and the origin of new entrants on the industry. The results indicate that the inflow was comprised of start-ups that proved to be relatively short-lived. In contrast, new entrants that originated as part of incumbent firms that were diversifying in IT stabilized the industry by depressing its disbanding rate and facilitating the entry of new firms. In explaining the dynamics of the industry, the analysis supports the established models of density dependence, age dependence, imprinting, and organizational origin.