Collective Action and Institutional and Technological Change: A Case Study of Iran Bio-Pharmaceutical Industry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Sharif University of Technology

2 Manchester Business School

Abstract

There is a wide range of evidence emphasizing the role of collective action in the process of institutional change. Collective collaboration as well as individualistic profit-seeking activities of entrepreneurs are two complementary wings of institutional and technical change in innovation systems. In this paper, based on empirical evidence from Iran bio-pharmaceutical sector, we develop a framework to link the institutional change of innovation systems to practices and institutional entrepreneurs (IEs). Then we use the framework to see to what extent IEs' practices are collective. We analyze institutional change as a shift from supplier-dominated governmental firms to science-based private firms. After that, we analyze four practices as mainly influential practices with institutional change effects, and finally we elaborate on IEs who are actively involved in directing the practices. Our analysis shows that in all the practices, collective action has been influential. We also find that there is a network of entrepreneurs involved in all the practices. These IEs are from both governmental and non-governmental organizations and play formal as well as informal roles in directing the practices. Our analysis criticizes both government-centric and individualistic views of institutional and technical change in catching up on innovation systems.

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