Institutional theory and legislatures

Institutionalism has become one of the dominant strands of theory within contemporary political science. Beginning with the challenge to behavioral and rational choice theory issued by March and Olsen, institutional analysis has developed into an important alternative to more individualistic approaches to theory and analysis. This body of theory has developed in a number of ways, and perhaps the most commonly applied version in political science is historical institutionalism that stresses the importance of path dependency in shaping institutional behaviour. The fundamental question addressed in this book is whether institutionalism is useful for the various sub-disciplines within political science to which it has been applied, and to what extent the assumptions inherent to institutional analysis can be useful for understanding the range of behavior of individuals and structures in the public sector. The volume will also examine the relative utility of different forms of institutionalism within the various sub-disciplines. The book consists of a set of strong essays by noted international scholars from a range of sub-disciplines within the field of political science, each analyzing their area of research from an institutionalist perspective and assessing what contributions this form of theorizing has made, and can make, to that research. The result is a balanced and nuanced account of the role of institutions in contemporary political science, and a set of suggestions for the further development of institutional theory

The Institutionalization of Institutional Theory

[Excerpt] Our primary aims in this effort are twofold: to clarify the independent theoretical contributions of institutional theory to analyses of organizations, and to develop this theoretical perspective further in order to enhance its use in empirical research. There is also a more general, more ambitious objective here, and that is to build a bridge between two distinct models of social actor that underlie most organizational analyses, which we refer to as a rational actor model and an institutional model. The former is premised on the assumption that individuals are constantly engaged in calculations of the costs and benefits of different action choices, and that behavior reflects such utility-maximizing calculations. In the latter model, by contrast, \u27oversocialized\u27 individuals are assumed to accept and follow social norms unquestioningly, without any real reflection or behavioral resistance based on their own particular, personal interests. We suggest that these two general models should be treated not as oppositional but rather as representing two ends of a continuum of decision-making processes and behaviors. Thus, a key problem for theory and research is to specify the conditions under which behavior is more likely to resemble one end of this continuum or the other. In short, what is needed are theories of when rationality is likely to be more or less bounded. A developed conception of institutionalization processes provides a useful point of departure for exploring this issue

Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention: Perspectives on Institutional Theory

Entrepreneurial intentions have been considered a critical element understanding the formation of new venture creations that have been seen in creating jobs and economic growth in a country. This study draws upon institutional environment theory to clarify and test the model using multiple linear regression on entrepreneurship education and three determinants of institutional environment dimensions, namely, regulatory, cogni-tive, and normative dimensions toward entrepreneurial intentions in the context of Esto-nia. A questionnaire-based survey on 265 Estonian university students was conducted to validate the hypotheses of the study. The results suggest that entrepreneurship education has a significant influence on university students’ entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, all three institutional environment determinants moderate the positive relationship be-tween entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Interestingly, interaction terms among normative environment, entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial intention are statistically significant. Therefore, the results of this study advance institu-tional theory and its application in entrepreneurship research in the context of Estonia. Research paper Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, Entrepreneurial intentions, Institutional environment theory, Estonia, University students Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Wannamakok, W., & Liang, W. (2019). Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention: Perspectives on Institutional Theory, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 7(2), 106–129.&nbsp

Indirect Internationalization of New Ventures: A Development And Test of Two Theories

This paper develops resource dependency and institutional theory arguments for explaining SME involvement in direct and indirect (via intermediaries) export activity. Based on resource dependency theory, we argue that a desire to leverage resources in a favorable home market may explain SME direct and indirect export activity. Building on institutional theory, we argue that SMEs operating in an organization field that is perceived as becoming more international will be more likely to export, either directly or indirectly. The theory arguments are tested using a sample of 871 Dutch SMEs. Results from binomial and multinomial logit regressions indicate the following: firms in the production industry are most likely to use export intermediaries, as are firm that face favorable home-country access to investors and banks and favorable home-country government regulations for businesses. In line with institutional theory arguments, firms are most likely to export, directly or indirectly, when the organization field is characterized by domestic competitors and customers who increasingly operate abroad and by an increased use of foreign suppliers. Compared to the direct mode, firms pursuing indirect modes are more likely to perceive favorable national finance market access and less likely to perceive favorable national production costs

Institutionalization and Structuration: Studying the Links between Action and Institution

Institutional theory and structuration theory both contend that institutions and actions are inextricably linked and that institutionalization is best understood as a dynamic, ongoing process. Institutionalists, however, have pursued an empirical agenda that has largely ignored how institutions are created, altered, and reproduced, in part, because their models of institutionalization as a process are underdeveloped. Structuration theory, on the other hand, largely remains a process theory of such abstraction that it has generated few empirical studies. This paper discusses the similarities between the two theories, develops an argument for why a fusion of the two would enable institutional theory to significantly advance, develops a model of institutionalization as a structuration process, and proposes methodological guidelines for investigating the process empirically

An Institutional Theory perspective on sustainable practices across the dairy supply chain

AbstractThe need for sustainable practices in the food supply chain, particularly in the area of energy reduction, is becoming acute. The food industry currently has to contend with multiple competing pressures alongside the new challenges of sustainable production. We applied Institutional Theory to explore the role of supermarkets in the development of legitimate sustainable practices across the dairy supply chains. The paper focuses on dairy supply chain organizations and their consumption of energy. We conducted 70 semi-structured telephone interviews with various stakeholders across the supply chain. Findings revealed that the majority of actors in the supply chain identified supermarkets as the dominant player, and that the supermarkets exert pressure on other smaller organizations across the supply chain. Although some organizations wished to pursue a sustainable agenda through integrating new rules and legitimate practices within their own organization, the dominant logic appeared to be one of cost reduction and profit maximization. There was also evidence that supermarkets and other large organizations attempt to replicate publicly available information on green successes for image purposes. We conclude that the dominant logic of cost reduction is so well established that challenging the dominant logic may prove difficult. The challenge is therefore to complement the dominant logic with sustainable practices across the whole supply chain, a role Government needs to play. This will require a broader more systemic approach to encouraging sustainable practices including investment and financing practices, so that all members of the dairy supply chain can co-operate and contribute to energy reduction

Performative Work: Bridging Performativity and Institutional Theory in the Responsible Investment Field

Callon’s performativity thesis has illuminated how economic theories and calculative devices shape markets, but has been challenged for its neglect of the organizational, institutional and political context. Our seven-year qualitative study of a large financial data company found that the company’s initial attempt to change the responsible investment field through a performative approach failed because of the constraints posed by field practices and organizational norms on the design of the calculative device. However, the company was subsequently able to put in place another form of performativity by attending to the normative and regulative associations of the device. We theorize this route to performativity by proposing the concept of performative work, which designates the necessary institutional work to enable translation and the subsequent adoption of the device. We conclude by considering the implications of performative work for the performativity and the institutional work literatures

SME Choice of Direct and Indirect Export Modes: Resource Dependency and Institutional Theory Perspectives

This paper develops and tests resource dependency and institutional theory arguments for explaining two choices facing SMEs: the decision to export or not, and, in case a firm has decided to export, the choice between exporting directly or indirectly. We test four hypotheses using a sample of 871 Dutch SMEs and applying multinomial and binomial logistic regression analysis. Our results suggest that institutional theory perspectives may be mainly relevant in explaining the choice of whether or not to export, while resource dependency theory arguments may be particularly relevant in explaining the choice between direct and indirect export modes. Our findings have important implications for policy and research