Institutional Enablers and Constraints of National Biometric Identification Implementation in Developing Countries: The Case of Ghana

The purpose of this study is to understand how institutions shape national biometric identification implementation in developing countries. National biometric identification initiatives have become important because they are being used by governments in developing countries to support socio-economic development. There is a growing body of research on national biometric identification systems but many lack theoretical grounding to better inform policy, practice and research. Given this gap, this paper employs a qualitative interpretive case study methodology to investigate regulative, normative and cognitive institutional effects on a national biometric identification implementation in a developing country. The findings show how a confluence of some local regulative and cognitive institutions as well as international normative institution enabled implementation while others constrained it. The net effect was the identification initiative becoming stalled. The findings have implication for policy, practice and research.