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.
Please send a full paper to Laura Ierfino (
laura.ierfino@mail.mcgill.ca) by
February 1st, 2007. Decisions will be made March 15th, 2007.
We look forward to seeing you in Ithaca!
Wesley D. Sine Robert J. David
Johnson Graduate School of Management Desautels Faculty of Management
Cornell University McGill University