Beyond the State Logic: Unpacking Institutional Complexity at the Village Level and Its Role on New Venture Activities

Despite the economic progress and development of societies since the industrial revolution, some nations in the current global scenario remain highly fragile due to low state effectiveness and legitimacy. Through a qualitative case study design involving five villages in rural Mali, one of the most fragile countries in the world, we explain that, when the state logic is weak, new venture responses are mediated by the village-level institutional complexity. This is enacted through powerful and effective local chiefs and customary law that guides social and economic behavior. Depending on the type of village orientation (inward or outward) and the type of dominant village logics (non-market vs. market logics), we identify four different types of institutional complexity at the village level including― relational substitution, instrumental complementarity, relational complementarity, and instrumental substitution. Thus, we explain how these forms of institutional complexity at the village level enable distinct venture responses, i.e., tradition sheltering, malleable framing, and modernity seeking.     «

Despite the economic progress and development of societies since the industrial revolution, some nations in the current global scenario remain highly fragile due to low state effectiveness and legitimacy. Through a qualitative case study design involving five villages in rural Mali, one of the most fragile countries in the world, we explain that, when the state logic is weak, new venture responses are mediated by the village-level institutional complexity. This is enacted through powerful and ef...     »