Reframing institutional voids as an opportunity to build inclusive markets
If markets are a tool for economic and social development, all those who contribute should be able to benefit from them. But weak market institutions are seen as creating voids that reinforce, rather than reduce, social inequalities.
However, research by Johanna Mair (Stanford University), Ignasi Martí, Director of the Institute for Social Innovation at Esade, and Marc J. Ventresca from the University of Oxford, published in The Academy of Management Journal, demonstrates that these voids aren’t empty of specific institutions, but are instead filled with conflicting local political, community and religious factors.
“These apparent institutional voids can be seen as useful problem-sensing tools. They can help to diagnose conditions that need to be addressed for inclusive market initiatives to develop,” the authors say. When reframed from this perspective, the drivers of exclusion and inequality can be identified and solutions implemented.
This paper received the 2024 Academy of Management Journal Impact Award.
Article published in Esade Do Better
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