Path analysis matters because congealed processes constrain future action

Evidence

A separate question is whether the state finally reached is efficient or inefficient, and the answer to this question is not considered part of the theory of path dependence. Although we appreciate this argument, from our point of view, it misrepresents the very intention of path analyses. The primary interest is not in the formal logic of nonlinear nonergodic processes as such; rather, it is nourished from congealing processes and puzzling persistencies that are likely to hamper present and future scopes of action. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 51

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what the authors take the actual object of path analysis to be, against a formalist reading.
• XREF: connects to: Path dependence plus recurrent mechanisms jointly explain contention’s regularities. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 366