How the West Was Won: The De-institutionalization of Child-Labor in Pakistan's Soccer Ball Industry

Abstract

Organizational fields in developing countries often experience diffusion of practices that, while novel for them, are highly institutionalized in the West. Studying such instances of change, which involve both non-isomorphic and isomorphic elements, sheds new light on the role of institutional entrepreneurs and highlights the crucial importance of identifying and incorporating the unintended consequences of institutional change into our analyses. Specifically, our study of the campaign to eliminate child labour in Pakistan's soccer ball manufacturing industry reveals how institutional entrepreneurs mediated between the powerless and the powerful. It also highlights how, in the wake of this universally acknowledged success story, bigger problems were created for many weak members of the field, especially women.