• 사회경제평론
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• no.38
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• pp.85-128
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• 2012

This paper aims to provide an evolutionary theory of firm existence and boundaries. We explicitly discuss about the cause of firm existence from the viewpoint of evolutionary economics, combine functionalistic and process-oriented explanation of firm evolution, and propose industry-level theory of firm boundaries. Vertical and horizontal firm boundaries are explained in the same frame.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.623-638
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• 2007

This paper debates on two different theoretical positions in explaining corporate adaptation. Until the 1980s, a restructuring perspective had dominated in explaining corporate success and adaptation. However, this perspective pays little attention to how firms adapt to environmental change and why some firms adapt successfully, while some others fail to adapt. Thus a restructuring perspective does not give insights into a context-specific explanation of corporate learning and adaptation. More recently, especially since the 1990s, academic focus on corporate adaptation and evolution has shifted towards exploring the nature of learning that leads to the dynamic competitiveness. A learning perspective emphasizes the influence of knowledge, learning and competence on corporate evolution. However, it reveals that this view is also less appropriate for explaining corporate adaptation in radical shifts in environment. In this context, the evolutionary theories of the firm need to seek to maintain a balance between two theoretical positions in order to understand more effectively the dynamic evolution and adaptation of the firm. This paper shows that the dynamics of corporate adaptation and evolution are an outcome of the mixture of perpetual processes of restructuring and learning, both continuous and discontinuous.