Cornell-McGill Conference on Institutions and Entrepreneurship

Organizer: Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University and Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University
Location: Ithaca, New York
Date: July 23-24, 2007

Call For Papers

Cornell-McGill Conference on Institutions and Entrepreneurship, July 23-24, 2007. Ithaca, New York

This conference is intended to further the institutional approach to entrepreneurial studies. An institutional approach to entrepreneurship shifts attention away from the personal traits and backgrounds of individual entrepreneurs, and towards how institutions shape entrepreneurial opportunities and actions; how entrepreneurs navigate their cognitive, normative, and regulatory environments; and how actors modify and build institutions to support new types of organizations.

A wide variety of topics fit within this broad theme. Some illustrative examples include:

•  the creation of new institutional structures to facilitate the development of new kinds of organizations;
•  the role of government policies in helping (or hindering) new ventures;
•  the use of symbols to legitimate novel organizations;
•  the role of norms, values, and traditions in facilitating (or impeding) entrepreneurship;
•  deinstitutionalization of an established practice as a form of entrepreneurial opportunity;
•  the creation of standards and conventions to support new types of economic activities.

Our desire is for this conference to be highly interactive, so we are limiting participation to a small number of (approx. 20 or so) paper

presentations. To promote interaction between senior and junior scholars, half of these slots will be reserved for papers submitted by more junior scholars. Papers will be accepted based on a competitive submission process. A small number of leading scholars will facilitate the paper sessions, these include Dick Scott, Howard Aldrich, and Pamela Tolbert among others.

The conference is sponsored by the J. Thomas Clark Fellowship, the McGill Centre for Strategy Studies in Organization, and the Johnson Graduate School of Management. We will cover onsite accommodations for 2 nights for presenters (one room per accepted paper). A select group of papers will be invited for publication in a special issue of Research in the Sociology of Work focused on the topic of institutions and entrepreneurship. A second conference is planned for 2008 in Montreal.

We look forward to seeing you in Ithaca!

Wesley D. Sine,

Johnson Graduate School of Management

Cornell University

Robert J. David, 

Desautels Faculty of Management

 McGill University