Institutional Entrepreneurship in China's Transition: Exploring Linkages Among Praxis and Institutional Change

A fundamental paradox of institutional entrepreneurship is that individuals embedded within and conditioned by institutions are also the very ones changing these institutions. Using qualitative and secondary data from China's institutional transition, we explore the mechanisms that facilitate institutional change in an emerging market context. Our findings expand upon existing institutional theory and provide two mechanisms necessary for institutional change to occur: diminished utility of administrative controls and negotiated boundaries of institutional space. These constructs provide critical linkages between praxis and institutional change, thus enhancing our understanding of the drivers of entrepreneur-initiated institutional transition.