When Analysis Should Not Start

When Analysis Should Not Start: Pre-Analytic Failure and Functional Breakdown

Jim Y. Huang

Working Paper, 2026

Abstract

Many institutional analyses proceed on the implicit assumption that their object remains a going concern. This paper argues that a significant class of analytical failure occurs prior to analysis itself, when the conditions required for admissibility have already collapsed. I formalize this pre-analytic gate as F = X × Y (under going concern), where institutional function (F) ceases when either horizontal capacity for cross-boundary activity (X) or vertical capacity for intergenerational carry-through (Y) is functionally ruptured. The formulation is non-compensatory and non-predictive: it does not explain outcomes or optimize performance, but determines whether analysis should begin at all. Through applications in finance, education, migration, and AI-mediated decision systems, the paper shows how analytical refinement often persists after functional zero, producing formally coherent but substantively void outputs. The core contribution is to establish pre-analytic gating as a governance requirement and to articulate the legitimacy of stopping analysis when admissibility fails.