The Dynamics of Institutionalization: Transformation Processes in Norwegian Fisheries

Abstract

The article was written with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant No. 91-16567A and Norwegian Research Council Grant No. 1301-500.136. For helpful comments and suggestions, I wish to thank Richard Apostle, Hans Kristian Hernes, Svein Jentoft, Eva Munk-Madsen, Leigh Mazany, Knut H. Mikalsen, Arthur L. Stinchcombe, and two anonymous ASQ reviewers. This article considers the fundamental paradox of new institutional theories of organizations: How can actors change institutions if their actions, intentions, and, rationality are all conditioned by the very institution they wish to change? I argue that the problem of institutional change can be solved if institutions are seen as nested systems, that is, interconnected, multilevel systems in which each action-level or arena simultaneously is a framework for action and a product of action. This is demonstrated in an analysis of institutional change processes affecting the rise and fall of a specific institutional form, the mandated sales organization (MSO), in Norwegian fisheries. After a brief discussion of the problem of institutional change, I describe how the MSO form was shaped in processes that themselves were structured by institutions. I then show how the interconnection between the practical and political levels of action through feedback loops can shed light on the cumulative character of the MSO reform. Lastly, I discuss the interaction between practices, interests, and ideas in the process that led to the downfall of the MSO form.-