{"title":"The Same or Not the Same - On the Variety of Mechanisms of Path Dependence","authors":"J\u00fcrgen Beyer","volume":39,"journal":"International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences","pagesStart":186,"pagesEnd":197,"ISSN":"1307-6892","URL":"https:\/\/publications.waset.org\/pdf\/7260","abstract":"In association with path dependence, researchers often\r\ntalk of institutional \u201clock-in\", thereby indicating that far-reaching\r\npath deviation or path departure are to be regarded as exceptional\r\ncases. This article submits the alleged general inclination for stability\r\nof path-dependent processes to a critical review. The different\r\nreasons for path dependence found in the literature indicate that\r\ndifferent continuity-ensuring mechanisms are at work when people\r\ntalk about path dependence (\u201cincreasing returns\", complementarity,\r\nsequences etc.). As these mechanisms are susceptible to fundamental\r\nchange in different ways and to different degrees, the path\r\ndependence concept alone is of only limited explanatory value. It is\r\ntherefore indispensable to identify the underlying continuity-ensuring\r\nmechanism as well if a statement-s empirical value is to go beyond\r\nthe trivial, always true \u201chistory matters\".","references":"[1] T. Guinnane,, W. Sundstrom, and Whatley, W. (eds.), History Matters:\r\nEssays on Economic Growth, Technology, and Demographic Change,\r\nStanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.\r\n[2] J. Mahoney, \"Path Dependence in Historical Sociology,\" Theory and\r\nSociety, Vol.29, 2000, pp. 507-548.\r\n[3] P. Pierson, \"Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of\r\nPolitics\", American Political Science Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, 2000, pp.\r\n251-267.\r\n[4] J. Sydow, G. Schrey\u00f6gg, and J. 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