The Impact of Interplay Between Formal and Informal Institutions on the Development of Innovation Networks: A Comparative Study of CEECs

The aim of this paper is to present the results of comparative case study research concerning the impact of the interplay between formal and informal institutions on the development of innovation networks of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). The primary contribution this article makes is to link the literature on the interplay between institutions related to innovation networks in a broad range of economies in transition like CEECs. This paper provides an understanding of how interplay between these institutions may influence the development of innovation networks of CEECs. Practical policy recommendations are to introduce a risk guarantee mechanism, which may promote the innovation process at different levels and influence the development of innovation networks later.

Buddhist entrepreneurs, charitable behaviors, and social entrepreneurship: evidence from China

To address the lacuna of how informal institutions like Buddhism impact social entrepreneurship in different regions within a nation, this research draws on the social entrepreneurship literature and the regional Buddhist research to propose a mediating framework where the percentage of Buddhist entrepreneurs in a region is positively associated both with the level of prosocial behaviors such as charity, due to the values of Buddhism, and with the probability of establishing businesses in a less-developed region. It further proposes that charitable behaviors mediate the relationship between the percentage of Buddhist entrepreneurs in a region and establishing businesses in less-developed regions. This mediating effect is attributed to the mechanism that charitable behaviors absorb the limited resources of entrepreneurs, reducing their resources for establishing businesses in less-developed regions. We test these hypotheses on nationwide surveys of founders of private enterprises and find support for this mediating view. Broad implications for theoretical and empirical research are discussed.

Patriarchy as Institutional

In considering patriarchy as potentially institutional and as a characteristic also of contemporary Western societies, a fundamental issue concerns how to make sense of largely informal institutions to begin with. Traditional accounts of institutions have often focused on formalized ones. It is argued here, however, that the principal idea behind one commonly accepted conception of institutions can be developed in a way that better facilitates an explication of informal institutions. When applied to the phenomenon of patriarchy, such an approach can then also allow us to ontologically make sense of gray areas and hierarchies of authority, as well as the intersectionality of social positions.

Praktik Kewargaan dalam Arena Institusi Informal Era Demokratisasi

Most studies on citizenship have only focus on the practice of citizenship in the context of formal state institutions. On the other hand, there are relatively few studies discussing citizenship practices in informal institutions. Therefore, this study examines the practice of citizenship in Islamic boarding schools/pesantren in the form of bonds as jamaah. This article intends to map the operation of pesantren as a binder of social ties between its citizens, as well as the pattern of relations between kiai and santri. This research shows that pesantren acts as lebenschraum habitus which installs the perceptions and expressions of its citizens. Pesantren is also a locus of power that has a significant influence on political and civic practices. As a locus of power, there is symbolic capital which is represented and reproduced continuously so that the symbolic capital produces economic, social, and cultural capital. The surplus of capital owned by the lora enables them to transform from the habitus of pesantren, to the habitus of political society and the state through the mechanism of electoral democracy. Even though the pesantren with all their supporting elements have a clientelistic relationship pattern, there is a public morality that can be transformed to strengthen the democratization agenda in the future.

Subsidiaries’ behavioural responses to volatile local contexts in emerging African markets: evidence from Nigeria

Purpose This paper aims to explore subsidiaries’ behavioural responses to volatile institutional pressures in the local context of the emerging Nigerian market. Design/methodology/approach The authors built on institutional and contingency theory to analyse previous literature on developed markets and apply it to African contexts. The authors used a context-specific volatile local context model to show how porous formal and strong informal institutions constitute international business (IB) as a contested terrain in the host country. The authors also used a qualitative methodology, involving multiple actors, to investigate this phenomenon in practice. Findings The findings indicated different types of institutional pressures shaping volatile local contexts, which together or separately impact subsidiaries, depending on their degree of exposure. Subsidiaries behaviourally respond to cope with these pressures through inclusive negotiations involving their home and host countries’ networks. Originality/value Previous research has imposed developed markets’ norms on emerging African markets, regardless of their volatility. As subsidiaries’ responses to local contexts in emerging African markets are poorly understood, the authors developed a volatile local context model, showing how IB becomes a contested terrain in host countries and the authors proposed a model that differentiates between informal institutions. The authors highlighted the impact of contextual pressures on subsidiaries, according to their levels of exposure to the local context. The authors concluded that committed alignment with a local context is necessary for presenting an effective contingent response to its volatilities.

Trust, Efficient Contracting and Export Upgrading

Informal contracting institutions constitute an essential part of a country’s overall contracting institution, however, the nascent literature examining the effect of contracting institutions on the quality of products a country produces and exports, have paid a limited attention on the role of informal contracting institutions. We fill this gap in the literature by examining whether higher trust levels, as an informal contracting institution, leads to product-quality upgrading by reducing contractual frictions and opportunistic behaviors. Using industry-level data spanning 1995–2014, we examined this relationship using the generalized difference-in-difference method. We find that contract-intensive industries in trust-intensive societies experience a disproportionally higher increase in the production and export of higher-quality products compared to those industries in low-trusting societies. This result holds after controlling for conventional sources of comparative advantage and formal contracting institution. Hence, the result underscores the importance of informal contracting institutions for improved economic performance and stress the crucial fact that countries with strong and efficient informal institutions can still benefit in market-related activities even in the presence of weak formal institutions.

Resilience through Synergy? The Legal Complex in Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Crisis

What types of institutional dynamics and conditions allow constitutional resilience in the face of attempts at undermining gains in a constitutional democracy? Using Sri Lanka as a case-study, I claim that the legal complex acting in synergy with independent public institutions (the Speaker of the Parliament) and civil society can produce constitutional resilience. Synergy between the legal complex and these institutions can transform constitutional vulnerability into constitutional resilience. I argue therefore that the legal complex theory must be extended to consider the ways in which it can work in synergy with other public institutions in being resilient against attempts at rolling back gains for constitutional democracy. I argue further that synergy between the legal complex and formal and informal institutions over the short term can only result in “simple” constitutional resilience. The development of “reflexive” constitutional resilience requires long-term synergy between the legal complex and other public institutions.

Institutions, Strategic Posture and Performance of Micro, Small and Medum Enterprises

<p>The thesis of this study is that perceptions of formal and informal institutions permeating the business environment in a city in an emerging economy have significant influence on the strategic posture of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and that strategic posture is viewed to have significant influence on the firms' overall organisational performance. The study emphasises the mediating role of strategic posture, being the conduit through which perceptions of sub-national institutions exert their influence on organisational performance. Institutional theory, which considers institutions as 'the rules of the game' that govern human interaction, serves as the study's theoretical foundation. An extensive review of the literature was undertaken in the areas of institutional theory, strategic management, organisational performance, investment or business climates, MSME/entrepreneurial development, decentralisation and local economic development at the city level. The study adopts an empirical-deductive research design through which a survey generated a total sample of 900 MSMEs located in two cities in the south-eastern region of the Philippines. Hierarchical multiple regression modelling, using ordinary least squares method with confirmatory robust technique, was applied to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that all of the five formal institutions and two of the five informal institutions had positive relationships with an entrepreneurial strategic posture, which in turn, was shown to be positively associated with higher levels of product/service, strategic and financial performance. Moreover, strategic posture was shown to partially mediate the relationships between three formal institutions and two facets of organisational performance. However, when the five formal institutions and five informal institutions were aggregated into two sets of indices, mediation analysis revealed that the index of formal institutions - product/service performance relationship was partially mediated by strategic posture. The index of formal institutions - strategic performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. On the other hand, the index of informal institutions - product/service performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. Overall, the empirical results offer acceptable level of support to the main thesis of the study.</p>