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Blooming in the cracks: productive entrepreneurship amid institutional voids

Author

Listed:
  • Zeynab Aeeni

    (University of Kurdistan)

  • Mehrzad Saeedikiya

    (Queensland University of Technology)

  • Kamal Sakhdari

    (University of Tehran)

  • Vahid J. Sadeghi

    (Aston University)

Abstract

Institutional entrepreneurship holds that institutions, as the rules of the game, provide payoff structures affecting the allocation of entrepreneurship to productive, unproductive, or destructive paths. Contrary to institutionalist assumptions, institutional work (IW) literature draws a broader vision of the recursive and dialectical connection between agents and institutions. IW explains how agents’ intent and capability lead to maintaining, altering, or creating institutions and direct entrepreneurial outcomes toward productive paths. The current research adopts an IW perspective to explore how productive entrepreneurship (PE) occurs in poor institutional contexts. Applying an extended case method and conducting semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, we extend the current understanding of the agent-institution interplay in entrepreneurship allocation. Our results depict a more realistic and comprehensive picture of entrepreneurship allocation to productive paths amid institutional constraints. Highlighting the role of actions and motivations, we explore different mechanisms and IW strategies entrepreneurs use to pursue PE within inefficient institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Zeynab Aeeni & Mehrzad Saeedikiya & Kamal Sakhdari & Vahid J. Sadeghi, 2025. "Blooming in the cracks: productive entrepreneurship amid institutional voids," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1723-1762, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:64:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-024-00963-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-024-00963-7
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    Keywords

    Productive entrepreneurship; Allocation theory; Institution; Motivation; Action;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • P12 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Enterprises
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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