CONCLUSION
A review of both institutional theories and recent empirica!
studies employing institutional arguments revea!s much di-
versity. Different definitions are employed and a variety of
causal arguments are subsumed under this general perspec-
tive. I identified these differences not to enshrine or condemn
them but to faci!itate clarification and orderly development. I
have also suggested that institutional arguments need not be
formulated in opposition to rational or efficiency arguments
but are better seen as complementing and contextualizing
them.
509/ASQ, December 1987
Throughout I have attempted to sound an optimistic note. Irv-
stitutional theory is at an early stage of development. Adoles-
cents have their awkwardness and their acne, but they also
embody energy and promise. They require encouragement as
well as criticism it they are to channel their energies in pro-
ductive directions and achieve their promise.
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