Institutional Effects of Interorganizational Collaboration: The Emergence of Proto-Institutions.

Institutional Effects of Inter-organizational Collaboration:The Case of Mre et Enfant (Palestine)In this paper, we explore the institutional effects of interorganizational collaboration.We argue that collaboration can act as a source of change in institutional fields through the generation of proto-institutions: new practices, rules and technologies that transcend the particular collaborative relationship and may become new institutions if they diffuse sufficiently throughout the institutional field.Based on a study of the collaborative activities of a small, nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Palestine over a four-year period, we propose that those collaborations that are both highly embedded and have high levels of involvement among the partners are the most likely to generate proto-institutions.