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Institutional Complexity and Opportunity Structures: Weaker Actor Influence in International Intellectual Property Regulation

Institutional Complexity and Opportunity Structures: Weaker Actor Influence in International... Overlap among international institutions affects the strategic options that are available to actors. Yet no existing approach fully explains who benefits from regime complexity. While some point to materially powerful actors, others highlight weaker challengers of the status quo. Drawing on historical institutionalism, I conceptualize two dimensions of complexity. I argue that depending on the mode of interaction among the institutions in and the degree of institutional fragmentation of a governance area, opportunity structures for weaker challengers are more open or closed. Shifts on these dimensions over time thus lead to an opening or a closure of opportunity structures for challengers. I assess this argument by focusing on such shifts in two areas intellectual property regulation. The article contributes to the overall topic of the special issue and advances the literature on regime complexity by highlighting the divergent effects of different forms of institutional complexity on different classes of actors. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Global Policy Wiley

Institutional Complexity and Opportunity Structures: Weaker Actor Influence in International Intellectual Property Regulation

Global Policy , Volume 12 – May 1, 2021

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References (76)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
ISSN
1758-5880
eISSN
1758-5899
DOI
10.1111/1758-5899.12897
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Overlap among international institutions affects the strategic options that are available to actors. Yet no existing approach fully explains who benefits from regime complexity. While some point to materially powerful actors, others highlight weaker challengers of the status quo. Drawing on historical institutionalism, I conceptualize two dimensions of complexity. I argue that depending on the mode of interaction among the institutions in and the degree of institutional fragmentation of a governance area, opportunity structures for weaker challengers are more open or closed. Shifts on these dimensions over time thus lead to an opening or a closure of opportunity structures for challengers. I assess this argument by focusing on such shifts in two areas intellectual property regulation. The article contributes to the overall topic of the special issue and advances the literature on regime complexity by highlighting the divergent effects of different forms of institutional complexity on different classes of actors.

Journal

Global PolicyWiley

Published: May 1, 2021

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