The Adolescence of Institutional Theory

Early versions of this paper were presented at the on Institutional Change, held at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA, May 15-16, 1987; and at a conference, Critical Perspectives on Organizational Theories, sponsored by the International Sociological Association and held at the Conference Center De Narwal, Wassenaar, The Netherlands, July 19-21, 1987. Thanks are due to the conference organizers: Paul J. DiMaggio and Walter W. Powell, Stanford Conference; and to Marshall W. Meyer and Ad Teulings, Wassenaar Conference. I also wish to acknowledge the helpful comments received on earlier versions of this paper from Ronald L. Jepperson, John W. Meyer, and Walter W. Powell.