Reactive causal sequences lack the lock-in logic that path dependence theories require.

Evidence

In contrast to the path dependence model advanced above, the intermediate state of a sequence of causal reactions is not reached by increasingly reproducing a specific pattern, and there is no connecting logic that explains the succession of the singular sequences. Although the idea of reactive sequences doubtless provides insights into the evolvement of historical processes, it does not fit into a theory of path dependence. Without path drivers and the causal logic of a lock-in, a theory of organizational paths loses its very point. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 70

Categorization

• DEFINE: Draws the boundary between path dependence (which needs path drivers and a lock-in) and mere reactive sequences, which supply neither.