Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The interconnected influences of institutional and social embeddedness on processes of social innovation : A Polanyian perspective

Nowak, Vicky and Raffaelli, Paola LU (2022) In Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 34(3-4). p.319-342
Abstract
Theorizing embeddedness requires sensitivity to the dynamic and multi-layered contexts that entrepreneurship is situated within. Social or network embeddedness offers explanation for how both social and for-profit entrepreneurs can leverage resources within their local environment. Institutional embeddedness is concerned with how the environment for entrepreneurship is shaped by social structures, often focused upon how legal and policy frameworks create barriers to growth. To understand social innovation (SI) processes—that comprise meeting social needs, transforming social relations and reconfiguring institutional structures—we need to take account of both social and institutional embeddedness. This paper explores how institutional... (More)
Theorizing embeddedness requires sensitivity to the dynamic and multi-layered contexts that entrepreneurship is situated within. Social or network embeddedness offers explanation for how both social and for-profit entrepreneurs can leverage resources within their local environment. Institutional embeddedness is concerned with how the environment for entrepreneurship is shaped by social structures, often focused upon how legal and policy frameworks create barriers to growth. To understand social innovation (SI) processes—that comprise meeting social needs, transforming social relations and reconfiguring institutional structures—we need to take account of both social and institutional embeddedness. This paper explores how institutional structures shape the environment for SI, influencing social networks and how actors within organizations are able to respond to contextual changes. Drawing on ethnographic case studies of two UK social enterprises, analytical histories uncover different levels and types of embeddedness influencing social organizations. We connect macro and micro interactions using a Polanyian view of embeddedness, placing SI within institutional structures and examining how reciprocal social relationships are critical to SI’s transformative potential. Our findings reveal the interconnectedness of embeddedness, whereby embeddedness in institutional structures led to a breakdown of the social embeddedness necessary for collectivism critical to SI. Moreover, our multi-layered analytical approach has potential beyond understanding SI, making theorizing sensitive to processes of embeddedness of entrepreneurship in other contexts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
entrepreneurial embeddedness, contextualizing entrepreneurship, social innovation processes, Karl Polanyi, analytically structured history
in
Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
volume
34
issue
3-4
pages
319 - 342
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85127204689
ISSN
0898-5626
DOI
10.1080/08985626.2022.2049376
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2351a0f9-c63c-439d-8a5a-dfe5b274258c
date added to LUP
2021-08-30 09:07:52
date last changed
2022-05-04 12:20:50
@article{2351a0f9-c63c-439d-8a5a-dfe5b274258c,
  abstract     = {{Theorizing embeddedness requires sensitivity to the dynamic and multi-layered contexts that entrepreneurship is situated within. Social or network embeddedness offers explanation for how both social and for-profit entrepreneurs can leverage resources within their local environment. Institutional embeddedness is concerned with how the environment for entrepreneurship is shaped by social structures, often focused upon how legal and policy frameworks create barriers to growth. To understand social innovation (SI) processes—that comprise meeting social needs, transforming social relations and reconfiguring institutional structures—we need to take account of both social and institutional embeddedness. This paper explores how institutional structures shape the environment for SI, influencing social networks and how actors within organizations are able to respond to contextual changes. Drawing on ethnographic case studies of two UK social enterprises, analytical histories uncover different levels and types of embeddedness influencing social organizations. We connect macro and micro interactions using a Polanyian view of embeddedness, placing SI within institutional structures and examining how reciprocal social relationships are critical to SI’s transformative potential. Our findings reveal the interconnectedness of embeddedness, whereby embeddedness in institutional structures led to a breakdown of the social embeddedness necessary for collectivism critical to SI. Moreover, our multi-layered analytical approach has potential beyond understanding SI, making theorizing sensitive to processes of embeddedness of entrepreneurship in other contexts.}},
  author       = {{Nowak, Vicky and Raffaelli, Paola}},
  issn         = {{0898-5626}},
  keywords     = {{entrepreneurial embeddedness; contextualizing entrepreneurship; social innovation processes; Karl Polanyi; analytically structured history}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3-4}},
  pages        = {{319--342}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Entrepreneurship and Regional Development}},
  title        = {{The interconnected influences of institutional and social embeddedness on processes of social innovation : A Polanyian perspective}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2022.2049376}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/08985626.2022.2049376}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}