The Institutional Logics of Clean-tech Cluster Intermediary Organizations in the United States

• In Event: 3483 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 05. Organizations: Structure and Practice

Abstract

Investments in clean technology have increased significantly since the early 2000s. Along with this increase in investment is the rise in the number of clean-technology (clean-tech) industrial “clusters,” or networks of geographically proximate organizations within an industry, in cities across the U.S. as well as other western countries. To support these clusters, or in some cases to create them, governments and other groups of actors have started to develop new types of formal organizations that seek to promote innovation by connecting together various relevant groups of actors, such as universities, companies, and government agencies. This type of organization, which I call cluster intermediary organizations (CIOs), provides an important example of how environmental sustainability can be tied with economic development, yet the literature on clean-tech industrial clusters has not yet systematically analyzed how the various groups of actors within these organizations work together. This paper is a literature review for a proposed research project that has three main goals. First, I draw on the literature on institutional logics to help explain how members within CIOs collaborate with diverse groups of actors. Second, I build on previous work on institutional logics by studying how a plurality of institutional logics plays out in this new type of organization. Finally, I seek to develop a better understanding of clean-tech CIOs in the U.S.

Author

• Magdalena Sudibjo