Institutional Regime, Opportunity Space and Organizational Path Constitution: Case Studies of the Conversion of Military Firms in China
研究中国军工企业转民过程中，不同制度体制如何影响组织的机会空间，进而塑造路径构成模式，对理解路径依赖有理论贡献。
Abstract This study examines organizational path constitution from an institutional regime view. The research setting is the conversion of military firms to the civilian market in China since the country's economic reform in 1978. We begin with a questionnaire survey to better understand the situation and context of military conversion, and then conducted an embedded multiple‐case study method that shows how different patterns of organizational path constitution arise from a process of change efforts, change outcomes and opportunity space. Our context further allows us to examine how heterogeneous locally‐based institutional regimes affect the opportunity space of embedded organizations, enabling or constraining their change actions. The overall contribution is a theoretical model that reveals the relations between heterogeneous institutional regimes, opportunity spaces and organizational path constitution. Our findings have implications for the path dependence literature.