Examining Institutional Change: Evidence from the Founding Dynamics of U.S. Health Care Interest Associations

Abstract

This study examines institutional change in the founding patterns of “interest associations” in U.S. health care during an era of redefinition of this organizational field. When this domain's major governance structure and ideology eroded, key actors fragmented, and alternative logics emerged. I looked at how the social organization of associations can affect field-level governance and at how both variables can change during this major institutional shift. The results suggest that the founding patterns of two institutionally distinct types of interest associations differ with respect to field-level changes.