The influence of the institutional field maturity on the legitimacy of the institutional entrepreneur

Abstract

This article aims to define how the degree of institutional maturity of the corrected street pole can construct the appropriate institutional entrepreneur's legitimacy (IEL's). The study is based on the qualitative approach with a multiple case study involving institutional entrepreneurs in the revitalization project, totaling eight Brazilian retail centers. The research contributes to the field of Institutional Theory, more precisely the aspect of institutional entrepreneurship, by demonstrating that, unlike the existing Theory, the results show that even when following the theoretical precepts proposed to build legitimacy, the institutional entrepreneurs could not carry it out. This happened due to the characteristics of the "pre-emergent" field, which does not have the minimum necessary degree of institutionalization to guarantee the institutional entrepreneur's full performance in the revitalization process. In this sense, the research reinforces that, besides presenting the behavior of institutional entrepreneurs and having a relevant project for the benefit of the actors, one should analyze the maturity in advance.

Keywords

• empreendedorismo institucional
• legitimidade
• maturidade de campos institucionais
• polos varejistas de ruas