Governance refers to those rules that clearly bind, define, and enable an organization’s scope of action, authority, and objectives. Much recent institutional research has focused on the governance of private organizations, most notably the business firm. By contrast, the governance of public organizations, such as the state, has received comparatively less attention. Moreover, work in these areas has often remained siloed, treating the two domains separately.

Today, however, we see growing public involvement in private institutions alongside an increased private presence in public institutions. The boundaries between the two are merging in ways that until relatively recently were almost unimaginable. This development raises important questions about how such blurred boundaries challenge the pursuit of good governance and its implications for human flourishing.

Addressing these questions requires interdisciplinary perspectives that explicitly recognise the influence, power, and role of both public and private actors, and consider the ways that they shape governance within and across national boundaries.

This Eleventh WINIR Conference is organized in collaboration with the Department of Social and Economic Sciences (DiSSE) at Sapienza University of Rome. The city of Rome’s long history of governance, from ancient times to the present, makes it a fitting venue for our inquiry into private and public institutions.

The conference will open in the afternoon of Wednesday 22 July and end with a dinner on Friday 24 July, during which the 2026 Elinor Ostrom Prize and the JOIE Reviewer of the Year Award will be announced. There will be an optional tour on Saturday 25 July.

The conference will be preceded by a WINIR Young Scholars Workshop on Tuesday 21 July.

Keynotes lectures will be given by:

* Professor Black has unfortunately had to cancel her lecture

Individual abstracts and 3- or 4-paper session proposals related to the conference theme or any other aspect of institutional research in line with WINIR’s aims and research priorities are welcome. All submissions are evaluated by the WINIR Scientific Quality Committee.

Important dates:

1 March 2026 (Extended) – Abstract and session submission deadline
14 March 2026 (Extended) – Notifications of acceptance
16 March 2026 (Extended) – Registration opens
1 May 2026 – Early registration deadline (standard fees apply from 2 May)
20 June 2026 – Registration deadline for accepted authors
21 June 2026 – Non-registered authors removed from programme
30 June 2026 – Full paper submission deadline

Organizing committee:

Emma Galli ([email protected]), Giampaolo Garzarelli ([email protected]), Lyndal Keeton ([email protected]), Richard Langlois ([email protected]), and Paolo Silvestri ([email protected])

Local Event Manager: Gaia Vallerini ([email protected])

Generous support for the WINIR Conference on Private & Public Institutions for Good Governance is provided by