Please note that minor changes may be introduced into the following programme of the WINIR Young Scholars Pre-Conference Workshop on Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Institutions, scheduled to take place on the day before the start of WINIR 2025.

Updated 8 September 2025.

Tuesday 9 September 2025

11:00-11:15: Welcome & Introduction

11:15-12:25 YS S1: Entrepreneurship, Institutions, and Historical Legacies

11:15-11:45 – Dmitry D. Volkov (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations -INALCO) – “Innovation Without Transformation? Learning Environments in the Russian IT Sector (1991-2022)”

This paper examines the Russian IT sector’s development from 1991-2022, exploring why despite producing successful companies like Yandex and Mail.ru, the sector failed to drive broader economic transformation. Using the concept of “learning environments” and over 30 interviews, Volkov analyses how state-business relations and institutional factors created uneven development patterns. The research reveals that while Russia developed internationally competitive IT firms, the sector remains import-dependent and has had limited impact on national economic diversification.

11:45-12:15 – Ziyi Wang (Cornell University) – “Decolonizing  Entrepreneurship: Institutional Legacies and Innovation in Emerging Markets”

This paper argues that colonial institutional legacies continue to shape entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets, creating barriers that sustain economic inequalities and limit innovation. Using case studies from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Wang examines how entrepreneurs navigate colonial-era legal frameworks, property rights, and financial systems that favour multinational corporations over local businesses. The research advocates for “institutional decolonization” – reforming governance structures and economic mechanisms to empower historically marginalized communities and support locally-driven innovation.

12:15-12:25: Session wrap-up

12:25-13:30: Lunch Break

13:30-15:30 YS S2: Sustainability, Platforms, and Institutional Innovation

13:30-14:00 – Hamed Rahman (Maastricht University) – “Reconfiguring Institutional Logics for Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Cross-Sector Ecosystems and Post-Growth Innovation in Global Contexts”

This paper examines how institutional entrepreneurs across sectors reconfigure economic systems toward sustainability, using cases like Tony’s Chocolonely’s challenge to exploitative chocolate industry practices. Rahman analyses cross-sector innovation ecosystems, the role of higher education institutions, and post-growth paradigms, comparing approaches between Global North and Global South contexts. The research proposes policy frameworks including regulatory sandboxes and cross-sector incentives to support systemic transitions toward sustainable and equitable economic models.

14:00-14:30 – Anna Elias (Erasmus University Rotterdam) – Midway Stage “Beyond the Voids: An Exploration of the Role of Digital Platforms as Institutional Actors in India’s Informal Economy”

This paper explores how digital platforms function as institutional actors in India’s informal economy, examining whether they beneficially fill institutional voids or create self-serving institutions that prioritize platform profits over worker welfare. Using qualitative research with gig workers in Mumbai’s ride-hailing and home services sectors, Elias investigates how workers transition from facing institutional voids to navigating platform-created regulations. The research finds that platforms regulate over institutional voids, creating new formal-informal interactions that may benefit workers, though this remains contested in the literature.

14:30-15:00 – Angélica Rodríguez (Deusto University) – Advanced Stage “Institutional Innovation Through Collective Coopetition: A Governance Perspective on Market Category Creation”

This study examines how Colombian café owners escaped “red ocean” competition by creating the “café especial” market category through collective coopetition via a meta-organization called “La Red.” Rodríguez demonstrates how competitors collaborated to legitimize and standardize high-quality coffee production across the value chain while maintaining individual value capture activities. The research contributes a grounded model showing how temporary meta-organizational governance can facilitate new market category creation and institutionalization among competitors.

15:00-15:15: Session wrap-up

15:15-15:30: Closing Remarks & Transition to Main Conference

Coffee & Networking

Discussants: Tanweer Ali (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czechia), Niclas Berggren (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czechia), Marek Hudík (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czechia), Lyndal Keeton (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), Andrea Sáenz de Viteri Vázquez (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czechia)