Why Do Institutions Revert? Institutional Elasticity and Petroleum Sector Reforms in India

The institutional change literature has predominantly focused on successful changes and sparsely on failed changes, but the idea of institutional fields reverting to their pre-change or near pre-change state, after change attempts, remains underexplored. Although recent studies have explored similar phenomenon from the perspective of actors resisting change and trying to restore status quo, a field-level understanding of the processes and the dynamics associated with it remains underexamined. The present study, using the case of reforms in the field of petroleum exploration and production in India, examines an institutional change where the institution, once modified, gradually reverted near to its prechange state. We suggest the concept of institutional elasticity to explain such reverting of institutions, and elaborate on three boundary conditions-scope of change, pace of change, and field-level actor constellations-which have implications for the relationship between institutional elasticity and reverting of institutions.

Automated summary

The institutional change literature has mainly focused on successful changes and paid little attention to the phenomenon of institutional fields reverting to their pre-change or near pre-change state after change attempts. This study uses the case of reforms in the petroleum exploration and production field in India to examine an institutional change where the institution gradually reverts to its pre-change state. The concept of institutional elasticity is introduced to explain this reversion, and three boundary conditions - scope of change, pace of change, and field-level actor constellations - are discussed in relation to the relationship between institutional elasticity and reversion of institutions.