Capturing institutional change dynamics in public policy fields: a realist literature review on institutional work

Le dynamiques de changement institutionnel au sein de champs de politique publique: une revue réaliste de la littérature sur le travail institutionnel

Santiago Rodriguez-Tabarquino - (), Solange Hernandez () and Tiberghien Bruno ()
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Santiago Rodriguez-Tabarquino -: CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon, AMU IMPGT - Institut de management public et de gouvernance territoriale - AMU - Aix Marseille Université, AMU - Aix Marseille Université
Solange Hernandez: AMU IMPGT - Institut de management public et de gouvernance territoriale - AMU - Aix Marseille Université, CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon, AMU - Aix Marseille Université
Tiberghien Bruno: AMU IMPGT - Institut de management public et de gouvernance territoriale - AMU - Aix Marseille Université, CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon, AMU - Aix Marseille Université

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Abstract: Contrary to common perceptions that institutions are unyielding ‘rules of the game' requiring no effort for their preservation, evidence suggests they are far from static and require active engagement to adapt and evolve. Dynamics of change are critical in the face of diverse pressures including social movements, the climate emergency, government reforms, and technological innovations, to ensure their legitimacy and continuity. Exploring these dynamics, a stream of research within organisational institutionalism has been dedicated to understanding how individual and collective actions influence, shape, and transform the institutions that underpin our daily lives. Through a realist literature review, we examine research on institutional work (IW) applied in public policy fields—a conceptual proposition we introduce—to elucidate how public policy implementation leads actors to engage in practices of creation, maintenance, or disruption. Adhering to RAMESES standards, we adopted a PRISMA-aligned protocol, selecting 74 articles for content analysis focused on inter-organisational interactions. Our findings uncover emergent categories of IW across multiple public policies, highlighting their role in fostering institutional change and continuity. We identify significant gaps in existing literature, particularly in the understanding of the symbolic, material, and relational dimensions of IW practices, and the critical convergence between IW and institutional logics to enhance our understanding of change processes in public sector institutions. This review contributes to the research stream by offering a comprehensive synthesis of IW at the field level, proposing a research agenda for exploring IW's potential in addressing public sector challenges.

Keywords: Institutional work; Organizational field; Realist synthesis; Institutions; Public policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-06-12
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://amu.hal.science/hal-04647414v1
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Published in 13ème colloque de l'AIRMAP: Gestion publique: fractures et cohésion. Penser/panser les mots de notre société, ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE DE RECHERCHE EN MANAGEMENT PUBLIC (AIRMAP), Jun 2024, Amiens, France

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