TITLE:
How Coal Miners Develop Path-Dependence and Lock in to an Unsafe Behavioral Path
AUTHORS:
Zhengquan Xu, Qinren Cao, Ni Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Unsafe Action; Path Dependence; Behavioral Agents; Accidents; Behavioral Trajectory
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.4 No.2,
February
11,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Path dependence in behavioral agents
can influence their actions. Creation of path dependence is a process of agents
locking in their behavioral trajectory, which will increase the possibility of
their certain actions occurring repeatedly. In China, most of coal mines’
working place is located in deep underground, so coal miners must work in very
complex environment. In such environment, once behavioral path occurred in the coal miners, the chance of incurring coal mining
accidents will be heavily increased. This article provides an empirical
study on how coal miners develop
path-dependence and lock-in to unsafe actions.
It expands upon the external and internal conditions that create path
dependence in behavioral agents. Drawing on these conditions, we construct a
process model of agents developing creation of path dependence and locking in
their behavioral path, and then, by using the model, we elaborate why unsafe actions of coal miners in China frequently
and easily occur, and why coal mine accidents reoccur in period.