Constructing Proto-Infrastructure for Gender-Lens Investing
Elites leverage combinatorial strategies to institutionalize gender-focused financial products within global markets.
1Elite Prefigurative Organizing
This study challenges the notion that prefigurative organizing is limited to grassroots activism. Researchers analyzed how financial elites construct institutional infrastructure to support gender-lens investing. By examining 28 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, the authors demonstrate that elites actively recombine existing resources to create actionable, recognizable investment products for gender equality.
2Methodology of Analysis
The research utilized fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, known as fsQCA, to evaluate the configuration of resources within 28 specific investment funds. This method allows for the identification of distinct combinations of symbolic, relational, and material assets. These configurations reveal how managers successfully translate abstract social goals into concrete financial instruments.
3Defining Proto-Infrastructure
The authors introduce the concept of proto-infrastructure to describe how alternative practices gain incipient institutional form. This conceptual device explains the phase occurring before full institutional consolidation. It highlights the mechanism through which nascent movements stabilize their operations, providing a framework for understanding how new financial norms take root.
4Resource Recombination Strategies
Fund managers enact gender-lens investing by synthesizing available institutional resources into new, functional structures. This combinatorial perspective emphasizes that innovation in finance often relies on repurposing existing systems rather than creating entirely new ones. Symbolic and material resources are strategically aligned to make gender-focused investment products viable in current markets.
5Navigating Political Backlash
The study provides a timely lens for analyzing impact investing during periods of significant political backlash against social initiatives. By focusing on how infrastructure is built, the research offers insights into the resilience of gender equality movements within finance. It suggests that institutionalizing these practices is essential for long-term survival.
6Institutionalizing Alternative Futures
The findings suggest that the construction of infrastructure is a deliberate, elite-driven process. By creating proto-infrastructure, these actors ensure that alternative financial futures are not merely aspirational but are embedded in current market mechanisms. This process makes gender-lens investing a recognizable and actionable category for investors seeking social impact.
7Theoretical Contributions
The research contributes to organizational theory by theorizing the role of elites in prefigurative organizing. It shifts the focus from purely activist-led change to the collaborative efforts of institutional actors. This perspective clarifies how movements acquire the necessary scaffolding to influence broader financial systems and sustain their core objectives.
8Future Market Implications
Understanding the creation of proto-infrastructure is critical for stakeholders monitoring the evolution of impact investing. As gender-lens investing matures, the configurations identified in this study may serve as blueprints for other social movements. Future developments will likely depend on how these incipient structures transition into fully consolidated institutional systems globally.