scholarly journals INTRODUCTION

Africa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Sarah-Jane Cooper-Knock ◽  
George H. Karekwaivanane

From the colonial period onwards, there has been a marked expansion in the range of formal and informal institutions enforcing regimes of law and social order across Africa. At the same time, practices and ideas about law, justice, policing and professionalism have proliferated, drawing on a diverse range of influences. This themed part issue explores the lived realities of law and social order in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Building on a rich and growing literature, the articles examine how diverse actors such as ‘ordinary’ citizens, the police and legal professionals understand, enact and contest ideas about law and social order. The articles that follow adopt different disciplinary perspectives and draw on fieldwork from Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The papers also illustrate how thinking about law and social order can cast a light on important themes for Africanist scholars, such as processes of formal and informal institutionalization on the continent and the public's investment in such institutions.

2021 ◽  
pp. 151-197
Author(s):  
Rubén Méndez Reátegui

In this paper, through the formulation of an alternate conceptual model, the author links the concepts of functional entrepreneurship and institutions, understood as a set of categories —formal and informal rules— showing a complex, dynamic and interactive character. Furthermore, the aim of this paper is to introduce an exploration of the concept of institutional coordination or positive institutional interaction as an essential element for neo institutional economics analysis. This aim proposes the hypothesis that institutional coordination or positive interaction among formal and informal institutions is the real key element for a theoretically consistent and com-prehensive analysis, evaluation and testing of institutions. Moreover, the paper is attached to the «meta» concept of society, represented as a process of dynamic collaboration among individuals. This assumption seeks to suggest an improved theoretical standard through the insertion of concepts taken from classical legal theory such as «desuetude» and «contra legem custom». This theoretical standard leads the author to introduce a set of contributions to the contemporary heterodox economics literature: a. Negative institutio-nal interaction is a process where overlapping and displacement between formal and informal rules cannot be leaved outside the model; b. A discussion in terms of institutional marginal rate of technical substitution becomes im-portant for deciding the best possible combination of formal and informal institutions; c. An exploration of the determinants for institutional elasticity, as the author assumes, that determinants of institutional elasticity mainly co-rrespond to the ease with which a «formal institution» can be replaced by an «informal institution» and vice versa; d. The use of the brain reward system and the Neuroscience approach introduced as a tool to improve the analysis of institutional coordination. Together the significance of these contributions brings a secondary hypothesis: traditional neo institutional analysis is weak, in the sense that, it avoids dealing with the real role and relevancy of in-formal institutions shouldering the prevalence of the formal institutional frame-work to reach institutional predictability and a sustainable social order. There-fore, the author claims that the traditional analysis is mistaken as it indirectly supports a separation and confrontation between contributions emerging from the legal abstract theory of the sources of law (Ghersi, 2007) and eco-nomic analysis. Key words: Functional Entrepreneurship, Formal and Informal Rules, Institutional Coordination, Positive Institutional Interaction, Institutional Elasticity, Sources of Law. JEL Classification: B52, K00, Z13. Resumen: En este trabajo, mediante la formulación de un modelo conceptual, el autor vincula los conceptos de empresarialidad funcional e instituciones apuntando a presentar una exploración del concepto de coordinación institu - cional o interacción institucional positiva como elemento esencial para el análisis económico. El objetivo es introducir la hipótesis de que la coordina-ción institucional entre las instituciones formales e informales es el elemento clave a dilucidar con miras a completar la elaboración de una teoría de las instituciones más consistente. Esta dilucidación se expresa a través de las siguientes contribuciones: a) La interacción institucional negativa es un pro-ceso en el que los desplazamientos y sobre posiciones entre reglas formales e informales no pueden ser dejadas fuera del modelo; b) Una discusión de la relevancia y características de la tasa marginal de sustitución técnica en el ámbito de lo institucional —relevante sobre todo al momento de estimar la mejor combinación posible de las instituciones formales e informales—; c) Una exploración de los determinantes de la elasticidad institucional —que se corresponderían con la facilidad con la que una «institución formal» puede ser sustituida por una «institución informal» y viceversa—; d) El uso del enfoque de Neurociencias y del sistema de recompensa del cerebro, los cuales son presentados como una herramienta para mejorar el análisis de la coordi-nación institucional. Palabras clave: Empresarialidad Funcional, Reglas Formales e Informales, Coordinación Institucional, Interacción Institucional Positiva, Elasticidad Insti - tucional, Fuentes del Derecho. Clasificación JEL: B52, K00, Z13.


2021 ◽  
pp. 96-123
Author(s):  
Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon ◽  
Valerie J. Hoekstra ◽  
Alice J. Kang ◽  
Miki Caul Kittilson

Chapter 5 sets out the formal and informal institutions that, collectively, comprise the selection process for the highest courts in five countries (Canada, Colombia, Ireland, South Africa, and the United States). Limiting the focus to formal rules of selection overlooks informal institutions (norms and practices) that constrain and enable the choices of selectors. Selection often rests on identifying a list of potential nominees based on informal networks, which have historically been composed of men. Across country cases, gendered networks and gendered ideas about qualifications often act as filters to hinder the appointment of women. When selectors or their key advisors decide to do so, they can disrupt reliance on these traditional networks by looking beyond the usual suspects as they draw up their shortlists. The chapter also illuminates the contexts in which electoral accountability and incentives matter. When selectors perceive electoral benefit from selecting a woman, and can be held accountable by their electorate, they are more likely to do so. In the context of pressure to select a woman, judicial nominating commissions and affirmative legal language can also increase women’s representation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 1650011 ◽  
Author(s):  
BORIS URBAN

Researchers argue there is a strong case to be made that entrepreneurship is itself a consequence of the adoption and development of institutions that encourage entrepreneurial behavior. Previous research on institutions classified the formal and informal institutions that affect entrepreneurs into regulatory, normative and cognitive categories. This study builds in this direction by investigating how perceptions of these institutional profiles may influence venture innovation performance. Following a survey of ventures in the ICT industry, hypotheses are tested using regression analysis. The results reveal that regulatory and normative institutional dimensions explain a modest, yet significant, amount of variance in venture innovation performance. The results also have important policy implications, where the institutional framework in South Africa could be enhanced by developing a country-specific mix of entrepreneur-friendly regulations and normative institutional conditions.


Author(s):  
Susan Franceschet

Despite electing a female president, Michelle Bachelet, and at one point achieving gender parity in cabinet appointments, women’s presence in Chile’s national congress remains small, is only slightly higher at local levels, and is extremely limited among party and coalition leaders. In her gendered analysis of representation, Susan Franceschet argues this is because of the strong formal and informal institutions that limit the size of electoral districts, require large thresholds to win seats, and require coalition negotiation over candidates for elected office. Even though women have a mixed record of representation, their presence has had important policy consequences. A gender-focused presidency has been critical for passage of gender-attentive policies. Women in Chile’s legislative arenas have been more likely to bring gender issues to the agenda. Franceschet points out that Sernam, the women’s ministry, has played a critically important role in this. The electoral reforms approved by congress in 2015 include a gender quota, creating expectations that improvements will continue.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Sandra Botero ◽  
Rachel Ellett ◽  
Thomas M. Keck ◽  
Stephan Stohler

Abstract The growth of judicial power globally has renewed scholarly debates about who benefits from increased judicial authority. Using original data, we examine the full universe of constitutional free expression decisions issued by three apex courts—in Colombia, India, and South Africa—across three categories of disputes that feature a diverse array of rights claimants. By so doing, we shed light on the limits of elite-driven accounts of judicial empowerment. We find that even where constitutional courts are empowered by elites seeking to advance their own interests, activist courts can develop a practice of rights-protection that benefits a diverse range of less powerful actors. Moreover, regardless of whether the speech claimants are elite or non-elite actors, these three apex courts regularly rule in favor of free expression for dissenting or unorthodox speech acts. In sum, where issues are peripheral to the governing regime’s core interests, relatively powerless actors are sometimes able to use legal processes to advance their rights and interests.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arezou Harraf ◽  
Hasan Ghura ◽  
Allam Hamdan ◽  
Xiaoqing Li

PurposeThe paper aims to analyse the interplay between formal and informal institutions' and their impact on entrepreneurship rates in emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachThis study expands previous research in examining the moderating effect of control of corruption on the relationship between formal institutions and the development of the entrepreneurial activity. The study utilizes longitudinal analyses of a dataset from 41 emerging economies over 11 years (2006–2016).FindingsFindings provided robust support for the study's hypotheses. The results suggested lower levels of corruption positively moderate the effects of a country's number of procedures and education and training on the rates of entrepreneurial activity, while negatively moderating the effects of firm-level technology absorption on the rates of entrepreneurial activity.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has considered only one particular aspect of high-growth entrepreneurship, which is newly registered firms with limited liability. Although newly registered firms are recognized as one of the critical drivers of entrepreneurial activity. Future research should seek to examine other aspects of growth-oriented entrepreneurship such as activities involving a high level of innovation, corporate entrepreneurship or technology developments.Practical implicationsThis study advanced the existing theories in the field of entrepreneurship and institutional economics as it merged the two theories as a driving framework in the design of the study in the context of emerging economies.Social implicationsThe study tested a theoretical model by expanding the number of emerging economies in the study and found comparable findings that explain factors that may influence the likelihood of individuals entering entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThis article adds to the current literature as it highlights the importance of the interplay of formal and informal institutions in determining their impact on entrepreneurship rates in emerging economies. This is of particular importance to policy-makers, and the business world as the empirical results of this study show the benefits of control of corruption in boosting entrepreneurial rates in these economies, which strive for economic diversification in their developmental endeavours.


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