Breaking the Mold Together: Collaborative Entrepreneurship and Institutional Transformation in Opaque Governance Contexts

The global imperative for sustainable development has positioned entrepreneurial ventures as critical institutional actors in addressing pressing societal and environmental challenges. However, in contexts characterized by centralized governance and regulatory opacity, as found in many Global South countries, entrepreneurs encounter complex institutional constraints, fragmented policy environments, and selective opportunities for experimentation. This Ph.D. thesis explores how entrepreneurs and stakeholders co-produce institutional and industry transitions under such conditions, with Egypt's fintech and renewable energy sectors serving as the empirical settings. Existing literature often emphasizes either the power of entrepreneurial agency or the dominance of state control in shaping change. However, this binary overlooks the relational, multilevel, and sector-contingent processes that underpin institutional transformation in politically sensitive domains. To address this gap, the thesis adopts a longitudinal, process-oriented lens, drawing on theories of institutional entrepreneurship, institutional work, effectuation, external enablers, sustainable entrepreneurship, and industry transition to unpack how ventures strategically align with state objectives while simultaneously engaging in experimentation, hybridization, and stakeholder orchestration. This Ph.D. thesis comprises three core papers. Paper A theorizes collaborative institutional entrepreneurship in Egypt's fintech sector, demonstrating how multilevel public–private interactions facilitated the transformation of entrenched financial systems. Paper B develops a
multilevel model of sustainable venture development in the renewable energy sector, extending effectuation and external enabler theory by introducing the concepts of "enabler chaining" and "sustainable institutional legacy." Paper C offers a comparative analysis of both sectors' transitions, conceptualizing how entrepreneurs navigate "foggy transition spaces," that is, uncertain environments where entrepreneurs and public authorities iteratively align, test, and adjust. Opaque institutions, a centralized governance system, and evolving state priorities shape this. Together, these papers advance understanding of how institutional change and industry transitions unfold in constrained environments, highlighting the interplay of legitimacy-seeking, regulatory co-production, sectoral sensitivity, and policy alignment. The thesis contributes to scholarly debates on sustainability transitions, institutional work, and innovation policy by offering a context-sensitive, integrative framework of institutional change in opaque and centralized
governance systems. Practically, it provides guidance for policymakers, regulators, and ecosystem actors on how to foster innovation and inclusive development in similarly complex institutional contexts.