Entrepreneurial sons, patriarchy and the Colonels' experiment in Thessaly, rural Greece

Existing studies within the field of institutional entrepreneurship explore how entrepreneurs influence change in economic institutions. This paper turns the attention of scholarly inquiry on the antecedents of deinstitutionalization and more specifically, the influence of entrepreneurship in shaping social institutions such as patriarchy. The paper draws from the findings of ethnographic work in two Greek lowland village communities during the military Dictatorship (1967–1974). Paradoxically this era associated with the spread of mechanization, cheap credit, revaluation of labour and clear means-ends relations, signalled entrepreneurial sons’ individuated dissent and activism who were now able to question the Patriarch’s authority, recognize opportunities and act as unintentional agents of deinstitutionalization. A ‘different’ model of institutional change is presented here, where politics intersects with entrepreneurs, in changing social institutions. This model discusses the external drivers of institutional atrophy and how handling dissensus (and its varieties over historical time) is instrumental in enabling institutional entrepreneurship

Policy responses to COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and the consideration of Indigenous Peoples

COVID-19 has had uneven impacts on health and well-being, with Indigenous communities in the Global South facing some of the highest risks. Focusing on the experience of Sri Lanka, this study identifies key policy responses to COVID-19, documents how they evolved over two years of the pandemic, and examines if and how government responses have addressed issues pertaining to Indigenous Peoples. Drawing upon an analysis of policy documents (n = 110) and interviews with policymakers (n = 20), we characterize seven key policy responses implemented by the Sri Lankan government: i) testing for and identifying COVID-19; ii) quarantine procedures; iii) provisional clinical treatments; iv) handling other diseases during COVID-19; v) movement; vi) guidelines to be adhered to by the general public; and vii) health and vaccination. The nature of these responses changed as the pandemic progressed. There is no evidence that policy development or implementation incorporated the voices and needs of Indigenous Peoples

Academic entrepreneurship in a resource constrained environment: diversification and synergistic effects

This chapter investigates academic entrepreneurship in a resource-­constrained environment. Sequential mixed methods are adopted in three stages, namely, an initial context-specific data-gathering stage, an on-line survey, and in-depth interviews. It is revealed that entrepreneurial activity is a means of becoming resource-rich in a resource-constrained environment. In order to extract value from their environment, academic entrepreneurs adopt diversification strategies, which generate synergies between multiple academic entrepreneurial activities. Diversifying into a greater number of different activities is found to generate more synergistic effects than diversifying into a limited number of similar activities. Nevertheless, there remain synergies between those who adopt different diversification strategies, which highlight the importance of a university having a team of different academic entrepreneurs, who complement each other. Policy implications and future research avenues are considered in conclusion