William P. Barnett, Aimee-Noelle Swanson and Olav Sorenson We discuss the creation of organizations and their survival as distinct selection processes, and consider the significance of their divergence. In particular, to understand the implications of entrepreneurial booms, we propose the possibility of asymmetric selection, where entry selection and exit selection differ from each other in [...]

Olav Sorenson In many industries, production resides in a small number of highly concentrated regions; for example, several high tech industries cluster in Silicon Valley. Explanations for this phenomenon have focused on how the co-location of firms in an industry might increase the efficiency of production. In contrast, this article argues that industries cluster because [...]

Toby E. Stuart and Olav Sorenson In this paper, we examine the ecological consequences of initial public offerings (IPOs) and acquisitions, specifically how the spatial distribution of these events influences the location-specific founding rates of new companies. We explore whether relatively small spatial units (metropolitan statistical areas) in close geographic proximity to firms that recently [...]

Jesper B. Sørensen and Olav Sorenson Studies consistently find regions dense in concentrations of similar firms to be fecund sources of new firms of the same kind. This pattern persists even in industries with negative returns to geographic concentration. Why do these patterns persist? On the one hand, social networks may constrain entrepreneurs’ opportunities, making [...]

Olav Sorenson A growing body of research documents the role that organizational learning plays in improving firm performance over time. To date, however, this literature has given limited attention to the effect that the internal structure of the firm can have on generating differences in these learning rates. This paper focuses on the degree to [...]

Toby E. Stuart and Olav Sorenson One of the most commonly observed features of the organization of markets is that similar business enterprises cluster in physical space. In this paper, we develop an explanation for firm co-location in high-technology industries that draws upon a relational account of new venture creation. We argue that industries cluster [...]

Lee Fleming and Olav Sorenson Some companies are better off making incremental improvements to their products. Others that must compete on their ability to innovate focus on breakthrough inventions. Either approach requires the exploration of a specific type of ‘technology landscape’ and the right strategy for searching across the terrain. MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter [...]