Informal Institutional Arrangements Research Articles

Breaking barriers and bridging gaps: the influence of entrepreneurship policies on women’s entry into entrepreneurship

PurposeHow does the interplay between entrepreneurship policies and both formal and informal gender equality affect women’s inclination towards self-employment in contrast to men?Design/methodology/approachThis study introduces and validates a comprehensive multi-level model underpinned by symbolic interactionism, institutional theory, and the nuances of gendered institutions. Employing innovative analytical techniques and leveraging data from 66 countries, we scrutinize how formal and informal gendered institutional arrangements either inhibit or facilitate an environment favorable to women’s entrepreneurial activities.FindingsSignificantly, our research delves into the nuanced effects of specific entrepreneurship policies across diverse nations. While these policies can bridge the gendered resource gap, a profound understanding of broader gender dynamics is crucial for fostering an inclusive entrepreneurial landscape.Originality/valueOur insights advocate for a more integrated approach to bolster women’s participation in entrepreneurship, thus furthering their socio-economic progression.

Clan culture and corporate innovation

Cultural traditions have consistently shaped people's values and beliefs, thereby influencing various aspects of society, including the economy. This paper examines the impact of kinship-based clans, an exceptionally significant social organization in premodern China, on contemporary corporate innovation. By utilizing the number of genealogies as a proxy for local clan strength, we find compelling evidence that firms in prefectures with a more pronounced clan culture produce greater innovative outputs. Delving into potential channels, our analysis demonstrates that clans can act as informal institutional arrangements, offer managerial incentives, and ease financial constraints. Moreover, the kinship-based clan background of CEOs spurs innovation activities.

Inter-temporal co-evolution of divergent economic activities and spatial economic resilience embedded in informal institutions

ABSTRACT The emergence of divergent economic activities in the context of developing economies characterised by institutional voids and market failure is a result of changes in the institutional environment and institutional arrangements. This study provides an inter-temporal framework for understanding the emergence of economic activities, institutional change, path dependence, and spatial economic resilience mediated by continuous and reciprocal interactions between economic and institutional agents (formal and informal) at the micro-level. Co-evolutionary studies of divergent economic activities in the Indian city of Delhi have revealed that radical changes in the institutional environment that did not enable retention of the existing ‘lock-in’ and informal institutional arrangements such as social ties and networks led to institutional drift and path exhaustion for the industrial sector. Meanwhile, in the service sector, the response of economic entrepreneurs to changes in the institutional environment has led to technological lock-in and the emergence of supporting informal institutional arrangements. Formal institutional arrangements have undergone institutional layering that has led to economic path creation for the service sector.

Intertwined realities - hybrid institutions in the Peruvian fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

Following pro-market policies, the Peruvian state has aimed to regulate profitable fisheries and aquaculture activities in order to increase their production. However, informal and illegal activities not only persist but are also interlinked with formal practices and frameworks, creating intertwined realities in fostering processes of institutional hybridization. This article analyses the (re)production of informal and illegal activities by explaining the formation of hybrid institutional entanglements in the Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) fishery in Pisco and the Peruvian bay scallop (Argopecten purpuratus) aquaculture industry in Sechura. It argues that state policies to promote industrial fisheries and entrepreneurial aquaculture for the global market coupled with limited interest in supporting small-scale fisheries and aquaculture activities have resulted in processes of institutional hybridization. Within these processes, social actors resist and accommodate formal regulatory frameworks to suit their respective needs, while intertwining formal and informal practices and institutional arrangements, based on their political leverage or ability to produce hybrid institutional entanglements in a context where regulation is limited and state authority is negotiated. Under these forms of hybrid governance, the article shows that interactions between state and non-state actors do not lead to collaborations for solving problems but to the persistence of sustainability problems.

The new institutional economic approach to land development game: Integrating transaction cost and efficient institutional framework in synergic urban land use-transport development model

Land and property development process includes a series of multifaceted activities ranging from purchasing to converting it for development purposes and everything in between. The process itself encompasses multiple stakeholders, drivers, and contributions from diversified public and private actors and transaction cost arises out of their complex interaction. Transaction costs incurred during any kind of human interaction (i.e., transactions). Every actor involved in the process wishes to maximize his achievement under various constraints and hence institutional arrangement (i.e., set of humanly devised rules to administer the constraints) is necessary for efficient management of the development process. Therefore, to devise an optimum outcome out of economic and social transactions in the property development process, cooperative and competitive relationships between individuals should be understood from a broader socio-political and governance structure. In this research, it is critically argued that the land and property development process should implicate a multifaceted set of formal and informal rules or institutional arrangements to govern the intrinsic interaction, action and thereby reducing the related transaction cost. The central argument is further reproachfully evaluated and implicated in the urban development process through the myopic lens of the Transit-oriented development (TOD) pathway. A vigilant combination of descriptive and explanatory research approaches is adopted to analyze the connection between theory and practice.

Buying a house without a formal title: A property rights perspective for understanding informal housing ownership in Shenzhen, China

ABSTRACT Informal housing accommodates a large number of populations in the worldwide and has received considerable attention. However, there is still a lack of understanding on the diversified informal settlers and their housing incentives, constraints, and risks they face. Based on existing research on property rights and informal settlements, this study presents a conceptual framework that includes four dimensions of property rights (the right of possession, the right of use, the right to earn rental income and the right of transfer) to explore the de facto property rights of Small Property Rights Housing (SPRH) owners for a better understanding on informal housing ownership and its relationship with formal and informal institutional arrangements in China. In-depth interviews with SPRH owners were conducted to explore the de facto property rights of SPRH ownership. Findings reveal that the “small” property rights shaped by formal and informal institutional arrangements have resulted in unique housing values of SPRH. Such housing values have met a wide range of housing needs and motivated heterogeneous social groups to obtain SPRH ownership in urbanizing China. Constructive attempts to clarify the “small” property rights of SPRH should consider the different social groups of informal housing owners and their diversified housing needs.

Working with the grain: economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in Bhutan

ABSTRACT The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has put the most vulnerable at the centre of a global effort to improve the lives of those living in poverty. This paper analyses the mechanisms underpinning economic inclusion of youth with disabilities in Bhutan through an institutionalist approach. Using evidence from various sources, we provide policy, program, and strategy advice for near-term implementation based on current formal and informal institutional arrangements. In our conclusions, we advocate for a wide angle on institutions to identify mechanisms of economic inclusion and overcome fragmented approaches for people with disabilities.

Founding Myth, Institutional Adaptation, and Regime Resilience in China

To explain the factors behind the regime resilience in China, this article focuses on the foundational and institutional resources that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accumulated in the earlier stages of regime development and their lasting influence on regime trajectory. At the stage of regime foundation, the CCP successfully constructed the founding myth of the party-state as the foundational resource to legitimize its rule. At the later stage of regime adaptation, institutional adaptation during the process of achieving modernization allowed the CCP to accumulate substantial institutional resources to further buttress the regime. While negotiating the space between state and society, the CCP regime demonstrated high capacity in granting more autonomy to market actors to accelerate growth while increasing the embeddedness of economic strata in the system through informal and formal institutional arrangements. When confronted with a serious crisis, the CCP was able to draw strength from the foundational and institutional resources to survive. This article argues that the CCP’s efforts in accumulating strength at the early stages of regime development continue to exert strong influence on China’s regime trajectory at later stages.

Integrating Environmental Governance into Sustainable Urban Development in Bangladesh

Environmental governance refers to the process of making environmental decisions, who makes them and how they are carried out. It includes formal and informal institutional arrangements for resource and environmental decision-making and management. This study examined the degree to which Barishal City Corporation (BCC) and Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), two divisional cities of Bangladesh, integrated environmental governance into sustainable urbanization. This study has collected data through questionnaire survey from 600 stakeholders (300 from each city corporation) along with key informant interviews from the government officials of the selected City Corporations. The study's findings show that environmental governance can pave the way to creating a sustainable city a reality. The ineffective enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, the lack of organizational coordination, responsibility, and responsiveness, and the deficiencies in resource mobilization are also identified as some of the few issues in this regard. This study argues that cities may be made sustainable by raising environmental awareness and changing the way of thinking of citizens and local government officials so that they believe everyone of them has a role to play in building a sustainable city. Creating sustainable cities cannot be legislated or decided: it must become a part of the life of every resident and organization in the city. The main drawback of this paper is that it only examines two of Bangladesh's twelve city corporations.

Co-Management During Crisis: Insights from Jurisdictionally Complex Wildfires

There is a general agreement within the disaster response community that exclusively top down approaches to policy making and management are limited and that we need to build governance capacity to cooperatively manage across jurisdictional boundaries. No more is this true than in the context of jurisdictionally complex wildfires that span multiple jurisdictional boundaries. Accordingly, the concept of co-management has grown in popularity as a theoretical lens through which to understand cooperative multi-jurisdictional response to wildland fires. However, definitional ambiguity has led to on-going debates about what co-management is. Further, there is limited understanding about the nature of co-management during crisis events. In this paper, we seek to address this question based on interviews with leaders engaged in the management of jurisdictionally complex wildfire incidents. Based on the integration of these three streams, we propose a multi-level framework for conceiving co-management as strategic efforts of individual actors to cooperatively manage perceived interdependencies with others through one or more formal or informal institutional arrangements. We then demonstrate the value of the proposed framework in its ability to organize a series of diagnostic questions for diagnosing co-management situations within the context of jurisdictionally complex wildfires.

The Impact of Interplay between Formal and Informal Institutional Arrangements on the Sustainable Development of Access Economy: A Comparative Study of CEECs

The Impact of Interplay between Formal and Informal Institutional Arrangements on the Sustainable Development of Access Economy: A Comparative Study of CEECs

Situational Analysis of Selected S&T-Based Social Enterprises in Batangas Province, Philippines toward a Policy Framework

Social Enterprises (SEs) can potentially facilitate social innovation. This study was designed to understand the situation of selected SEs in Batangas province run by Community-based Associations with DOST Grants-In-Aid Projects. The study described each SE, determined their problem situations, and analyzed surrounding institutional arrangements among them to formulate a policy framework. Data were gathered through FGDs and KIIs among SEs and their assisting institutions. The data went through two-level coding and were further analyzed using CIPP Evaluation Model and EPISTLE Analysis Tool. Social Enterprises Quality Indicators by PhilSEN were used to evaluate the SE’s business management performance, social responsibility and performance, and environment and cultural practices. Results showed that the seven selected SEs are legally registered with existence ranging from 0-20 years. Most of them belong in the food processing sector. Majority met the standards for Business and Management Performance, Social Responsibility and Performance, and Environment and Cultural Practice. Problem situation of SEs identified were related to association, production, market, and financial. The association problems were mainly caused by members; production problems were interrelated and influenced by lack of funds; market problems included customer complaints; and financial problems were associated with low income. Most problem situations influence SEs’ overall operations. Meanwhile, majority of the selected SEs did not consider any direct influence from legal and environmental factors, but admitted to be influenced by political and economic environment, and socio-cultural factors. All the selected SEs consider institutions as support mechanisms for growth and source of improvement for their product, process, and promotion. However, only informal institutional arrangements were in place. A policy framework was formulated at the end of the study. It embeds analysis approaches to better understand the background and broader problem situations, influences, and institutional interventions to determine possible policy actions. The framework highlights a five-level process needed to set up guidelines for S&T-Based SEs.

Co-management during crisis: insights from jurisdictionally complex wildfires

There is a general agreement within the wildfire community that exclusively top–down approaches to policy making and management are limited and that we need to build governance capacity to cooperatively manage across jurisdictional boundaries. Accordingly, the concept of co-management has grown in popularity as a theoretical lens through which to understand cooperative multi-jurisdictional response to wildland fires. However, definitional ambiguity has led to on-going debates about what co-management is. Further, there is limited understanding about the nature of co-management during crisis events. This had led to scholars posing the question: what is co-management in the context of jurisdictionally complex wildfire? In this paper, we seek to address this question based on interviews with leaders engaged in the management of jurisdictionally complex wildfire incidents. We propose a multi-level framework for conceiving co-management as strategic efforts of individual actors to cooperatively manage perceived interdependencies with others through one or more formal or informal institutional arrangements. We then demonstrate the value of the proposed framework in its ability to organise a series of questions for diagnosing co-management situations within the context of jurisdictionally complex wildfires.

Ecosystem network health and SMEs’ credit quality

PurposeIn industrial and business-to-business (B2B) marketing research, a business network ecosystem is an important antecedent of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) performance. The purpose of this study is to clarify the direct and indirect effects of ecosystem network health on SMEs’ credit quality.Design/methodology/approachThe data is collected from a survey of operations managers and financial managers of 282 SMEs in China. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses, and latent moderated structural equations are used to estimate the moderating effect model.FindingsThis research indicates that ecosystem network health can directly affect SMEs’ credit quality and have an indirect impact on credit quality through value co-creation capability. In addition, better informal institutional arrangements in the ecosystem can amplify the positive effects of network health and value co-creation capability on SMEs’ credit quality.Originality/valueFrom an ecosystem perspective, it is necessary to bring the ecosystem characteristics into business scenario and explore their impacts on SMEs’ financing behaviors. This study contributes to B2B marketing research in terms of investigating the role played by ecosystem characteristics and value co-creation capability.

An Institutional Analysis of TMP Regulation in India

AbstractThis study identifies the main actors in the Indian network neutrality case and explores the main formal and informal institutional arrangements that constrain and influence their agendas for traffic management practices (TMPs). The analysis applies institutional analysis to this subject matter. This study identifies the formal institutional arrangements such as licenses for ISPs and informal institutional arrangements manifesting in practices to block websites and applications, throttle this content, and engage in preferential treatment.

Bypassing institutional barriers: New types of transit-oriented development in China

China is often viewed as an emerging experimental base for transit-oriented development (TOD) practices because of its rapid urban growth and development of mass transit networks. The implementation of TOD can be heavily influenced by institutional barriers to urban growth. However, some newly emerging types of TOD practice allow planners and decision-makers to bypass some of the institutional barriers and achieve a certain degree of integrated development. Current academic literature, however, has little to say on how these informal institutional solutions go around these barriers. This article aims to fill this gap by examining three different types of TOD practice as applied in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. We analysed and compared the origins and effects of abovementioned informal institutional arrangements under entrepreneurial governance. We found that land value capturing can replace the existing governance mode in which local government heavily relies on revenue from land-leasing and realise better integration of transit and land development. We conclude with several suggestions for institutional reform based on these new types of TOD experiments.

Feasibility of Good Governance at Health Facilities: A Proposed Framework and its Application Using Empirical Insights From Kenya.

Governance is a social phenomenon which permeates throughout systemic, organisational and individual levels. Studies of health systems governance traditionally assessed performance of systems or organisations against principles of good governance. However, understanding key pre-conditions to embed good governance required for healthcare organisations is limited. We explore the feasibility of embedding good governance at healthcare facilities in Kenya. Our conceptualisation of organisational readiness for embedding good governance stems from a theory of institutional analysis and frameworks for understanding organisational readiness for change. Four inter-related constructs underpin to embed good governance: (i) individual motivations, determined by (ii) mechanisms for encouraging adherence to good governance through (iii) organisation's institutional arrangements, all within (iv) a wider context. We propose a framework, validated through qualitative methods and collected through 39 semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers, county and national-level policy-makers in Kenya. Data was analysed using framework approach, guided by the four constructs of the theoretical framework. We explored each construct in relation to three key principles of good governance: accountability, participation and transparency of information. Embedding good governance in healthcare organisations in Kenya is influenced by political and socio-cultural contexts. Individual motivations were a critical element of self-enforcement to embed principles of good governance by healthcare providers within their facilities. Healthcare providers possess strong moral incentives to self-enforce accountability to local populations, but their participation in decision-making was limited. Health facilities lacked effective mechanisms for enforcing good governance such as combating corruption, which led to a proliferation of informal institutional arrangements. Organisational readiness for good governance is context-specific so future work should recognise different interpretations of acceptable degrees of transparency, accountability and participation. While good governance involves collective social action, organisational readiness relies on individual choices and decisions within the context of organisational rules and cultural and historical environments.

How effective are informal property rights in cities? Reexamining the relationship between informality and housing quality in Dar es Salaam

ABSTRACT Improving access to adequate housing is a global development priority. Formalisation of property rights occupies a central role in this agenda, based on long-held ideas about the weaknesses of informal arrangements in cities. In practice, however, we know remarkably little about how informal property markets in urban areas work. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, this paper demonstrates that informal institutional arrangements in Dar es Salaam are surprisingly effective in securing ownership and addressing transaction costs – in other words, in the key dimensions of property rights targeted by formalisation projects. It also reveals, however, that the system is ineffective at upholding the third yet often-overlooked component of property rights: land use rights. This results in a social dilemma that traps housing in a low-quality equilibrium. The findings have direct implications for policy in Dar es Salaam and across the world and open new avenues for comparative research.

Evaluating the Impact of Informal Institutional Arrangements on the Transfer of Development Rights for Built Heritage Conservation in Dense Cities

Transfer of development rights (TDRs) is an attractive method in theory, contributing to a city’s conservation effort while balancing the need for sustainable urban development. Operationally, the implementation of TDRs is complex and problematic due to conflicting interests of stakeholders under the influence of different institutional arrangements. This study aims to show from a theoretical perspective how TDR cases for built heritage conservation are evaluated to examine the impact of TDR institutional arrangements, and then propose strategies to improve the institutional system. Through a review of established theories, an evaluation framework with a set of criteria and associated sub-criteria related to the outcomes of institutional arrangements was established for detailed impact analysis, which has been supported with feedback from semi-structured interviews with experts and interested groups. The outcome includes conflicts associated with Ostrom’s (2005) evaluative criteria for economic efficiency problems, social inequity, inadaptability and non-resilience with existing planning systems, unclear accountability, and undesirable “conformance with general morality”. The results of this case study reveal the gaps between the theory and practice of TDR implementations, particularly the conflicts with government planning systems and threats to public interests. Based on the results of this study, strategies have been provided that improve institutional arrangement for TDRs and highlight the specific measures needed to minimise the bilateral challenge between private development interests and public conservation goals.

Participatory monitoring of small-scale coastal fisheries in South America: use of fishers’ knowledge and factors affecting participation

Participatory approaches to fisheries management are gaining increasing support from researchers, non-governmental organizations, and governments in Latin America, and different forms of participatory monitoring have been implemented over the last few decades. Among several advantages, these initiatives allow incorporation of fishers’ knowledge on ecology, fishing practices, social aspects, markets, regulations, into different stages of management. In this paper, we analyze key features of participatory monitoring programs in small-scale coastal fisheries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay) through a literature review complemented by expert opinion. Our review considered the fisheries and variables monitored; objectives, duration, institutional context of the monitoring programs; and factors that affect the extent of fishers’ participation and the incorporation of fishers’ knowledge. We found 14 case studies described in the literature, most of which correspond to benthic fisheries. Most cases focused on ecological and/or catch and effort variables; few initiatives included social variables. Initiatives were mainly driven by researchers in partnership with fishers and other stakeholders under formal or informal institutional arrangements. Institutional arrangements were largely responsible for the effectiveness of participation. In most cases, fishers’ participation in monitoring was fostered as a component of a broader participatory co-management approach. Despite the challenges, participatory monitoring approaches are gaining traction in South America, receiving significant support from researchers in most cases, and from nongovernmental organizations in some cases. Increased governmental support for implementing and sustaining long-lasting participatory monitoring programs would strengthen monitoring initiatives that emerge locally.