ABSTRACT
Over the last few years, the issue of causal complexity and its research-practical implications for empirical-comparative research has received growing attention.1 Causal complexity can be understood in different, not necessarily mutually exclusive ways (Braumoeller 2003). One form of causal complexity unfolds through the interplay of relevant factors over time. Aspects such as time, timing, sequencing, or feedback loops (Abbott 2001, Pierson 2004) are commonly dealt with in research based on the intensive analysis of few cases, often under the label of process tracing (George and Bennett 2005). The kind of causal complexity I am focusing on here, however, is of a different, static, nature. It goes under the labels of conjunctural,2 equifi nality, and asymmetry causation (Lieberson 1985; Ragin 1987, 2000, 2008b; Mahoney 2008).
