Using Integrated Top-down and Bottom-up Dynamic Modelingfor Triangulation and Interdisciplinary Theory Integration: The Case of Long-term Firm Performance and Survival

摘要

System dynamics (SD) modeling has been classified as a “top-down” approach tomodeling dynamic and complex systems, whereas agent-based (AB) modeling techniquesare referred to as a “bottom-up” approach. Various papers have recently proposed the useof both approaches when studying complex, dynamic problems in the social; sciences,particularly, when hard data for important variables are hard to find. Furthermore, humanand social dynamics typically have been studied through the lenses of various disciplines.When modeling those problems, insights from those various disciplines should beintegrated. Dynamic modeling might provide an important instrument for such theoryintegrationefforts. In this paper, the problem of long-term firm performance is taken asan illustration for such a research design, in which theory-integration is undertaken alongwith a design, in which top-down and bottom-up modeling are iteratively combined. It isconcluded that besides arriving at deeper understanding of the problem through theoryintegration,cross-validation and dynamic triangulation may be among the potentialbenefits in such multi-disciplinary and multi-method research designs.