%0 Journal Article %1 McPherson:1983 %A McPherson, Miller %D 1983 %J American Sociological Review %K evolution organization social %N 4 %P 519--532 %T An Ecology of Affiliation %V 48 %X This paper develops an ecological model of the competition of social organizations for members. The concept of the ecological niche is quantified explicitly in a way which ties together geography, time, and the social composition of organizations. A differential equation model analogous to the Lotka-Volterra competition equations in biology captures the dynamics of the system. This dynamic model is related to the niche concept in a novel way, which produces an easily understood and powerful picture of the static and dynamic structure of the community. This new perspective provides a theoretical link between the aggregate macrostructural theory of Blau (1977a,b) and the microstructural dynamics of organizational demography (Pfeffer, 1983). The model is tested with data on organizations from a midwestern city.

@article{McPherson:1983, abstract = {This paper develops an ecological model of the competition of social organizations for members. The concept of the ecological niche is quantified explicitly in a way which ties together geography, time, and the social composition of organizations. A differential equation model analogous to the Lotka-Volterra competition equations in biology captures the dynamics of the system. This dynamic model is related to the niche concept in a novel way, which produces an easily understood and powerful picture of the static and dynamic structure of the community. This new perspective provides a theoretical link between the aggregate macrostructural theory of Blau (1977a,b) and the microstructural dynamics of organizational demography (Pfeffer, 1983). The model is tested with data on organizations from a midwestern city.}, added-at = {2010-03-02T17:25:53.000+0100}, author = {McPherson, Miller}, bdsk-file-1 = {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}, bdsk-url-1 = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/2117719}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2fd98006ac4d22855d8eeb959b22a67ae/jrennstich}, date-modified = {2010-02-28 22:20:13 -0500}, interhash = {039a489bb4a3c2ac192efc3238f149c4}, intrahash = {fd98006ac4d22855d8eeb959b22a67ae}, journal = {American Sociological Review}, keywords = {evolution organization social}, month = {August}, number = 4, pages = {519--532}, timestamp = {2010-03-07T03:27:46.000+0100}, title = {An Ecology of Affiliation}, volume = 48, year = 1983 }