We discuss the relation between microscopic mechanism and macroscopic growth behavior. First, we introduce a macroscopic theory of growth behavior in semiconductor heteroepitaxy that includes the effects of the formation of Stranski-Krastanov islands and the misfit dislocations. This theory can reproduce the various types of' growth behavior observed in heteroepitaxial growth. Next, we have formulated a procedure for determining the phenomenological parameters that includes atomistic informations. The critical thickness of' InAs/GaAs(110) heteroepitaxy obtained by this procedure is in good agreement with the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.