1IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion (Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne (UPEC) -Faculté de sciences économiques et de gestion
Place de la Porte des Champs , 4 Route de Choisy 94010 Créteil Cedex - France)
Abstract : Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to enrich empirical studies on institutional entrepreneurship (IE), more specifically those focusing on the role of the IE in building a new field (here the orphan drug [OD] field). This research addresses the main paradoxes of IE theories: a deterministic vs free agent point of view; an individual hero vs a collective action approach; and a change vs reproduction perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
– A case study of the role of an IE in the building of the OD field in Europe conducted through interviews with the main actors and in-depth documentary research.
Findings
– The case highlights the IE resources as products of a dynamic historical process driven by values; the process of building the field as an interaction between framing issues, mobilizing agents and resources, transforming a policy window into a political opportunity. It relativizes the IE role: an indispensable catalyst of collective action that can also reinforce the hegemonic bloc while changing the rules.
Originality/value
– The paper highlights the necessity of longitudinal analysis to address the agent/structure paradox.
Julienne Brabet, Karim Hamadache. Rethinking Institutional Entrepreneurship: The Case of the Construction of the Orphan Drug Field in Europe. Society and Business Review, Emerald, 2014, 9 (2), pp.139-152. ⟨10.1108/SBR-02-2014-0005⟩. ⟨hal-01131732⟩