Causal mechanisms in organization and innovation studies

Abstract

We outline the guiding ideas behind mechanisms-based theorizing in analytical sociology as a fruitful alternative to economics-inspired research on identification of causal effects, and discuss the potential of mechanisms-based theorizing for further development in organization and innovation studies. We discuss the realist stance on providing broader explanations as an identifying characteristic of the mechanism approach, its focus on the dynamic processes through which outcomes to be explained are brought about, and outline theoretical and methodological implications for organization and innovation studies.

Keywords:

• research methods
• mechanisms
• causality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Research Council [grant number 324233] and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond [grant number M12-0301:1].

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for feedback from Gregoire Crodieu, Phil Kim, Markus Perkmann, Petri Ylikoski, and seminar participants at the Institute of Analytical Sociology (IAS) at Linköping University, Sweden. The usual caveats apply.

Notes

1. Consistent with the mechanism-based tradition, we here refer to ‘process’ as ‘explanation of a relationship’ (van de ven, 1992). It should be acknowledged that there other definition of processes, such as how phenomena change and unfold over time (Tsoukas & Chia, 2002).