Enhancing Industry Association Theory: A Comparative Business History Contribution
通过比较新西兰同一供应链中两个行业协会的历史，结合新制度经济学与组织制度理论，揭示行业协会的结构潜力与关系背景，为管理学者研究桥梁型组织提供新见解。
abstract Our comparative business historical examination of industry associations aims to enrich the under‐theorized study of this distinctive type of meta‐organization. We compare two New Zealand industry associations operating in the same supply chain but with differing degrees of associative capacity and types of external architecture. Our analysis of these associations builds on two strands of theory that rarely communicate with each other: New Institutional Economics (NIE) and Organizational–Institutional Theory (OIT). We demonstrate how NIE describes the structural potentialities for associational strength, while OIT addresses the relational context within associations. In turn, NIE's examination of external influences reinforces OIT suggestions that associations which are rich in social capital can become developmental in orientation. Our historical analysis supplies fresh theoretical insights into industry associations, thereby addressing conceptual issues of interest to management scholars who study bridging‐type organizations. On this basis, we argue that business history and organization studies complement each other.