Local Institutions and Heterogeneity in Emerging Fields: The Case of Slow Money

This paper considers the role of local context in shaping micro- level interactions among a field’s actors, which ultimately affects heterogeneity in emerging fields. Analysis of the Slow Money movement, which supports the development of sustainable local food systems by connecting sustainable food entrepreneurs with local investors, offers insights into how the practices of field actors are shaped by the institutional context. I introduce the concepts of infrastructural endowment and community support as key dimensions of the institutional context underlying variation in field practices. Consistent with the inhabited institutions perspective, I show that each chapter of the non-profit organization Slow Money developed different interpretations of the movement principles, depending on the local strength of infrastructural endowment vis-a- vis community support. These different interpretations led to variation in terms of financial practices employed to support the entrepreneurs. This demonstrates that the...