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Regional institutions and place-based practice adoption: the forest stewardship council certificate
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DOI：10.1007/s11846-025-00914-w.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Institutional pressures related to geography remain underexplored in the study of management practice adoption. This paper examines how regional institutional forces—mimetic, normative, and regulatory—affect firms’ decisions to adopt voluntary environmental programs (VEPs). Using a place-based approach, we analyze how the distance of a firm's headquarters from a country's capital moderates these effects. Drawing on event history analysis of 291 paper and paperboard producers across five European countries between 2000 and 2010, we find that regional institutions significantly influence adoption patterns. Specifically, mimetic pressures from regional competitors encourage adoption, but this effect weakens as firms are located further from the capital. In contrast, normative and regulatory pressures become more pronounced for firms in remote locations. These findings contribute to institutional theory by demonstrating how firms experience and respond to institutional pressures differently based on geographic positioning. The study also offers practical insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders seeking to enhance sustainability initiatives at regional and local levels.
Keywords:
Institutional theory
Regional institutions
Geographic distance
Voluntary environmental programs
FSC certification
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12.4
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1.3K
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4.4K
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