Institutionalisation and Processes of Grassroots Innovations: Evidence from the Literature

Abstract

This study tries to conceptualise the ontology of grassroots innovations (GIs) and the enabling institutional processes. It follows an extensive literature review approach to understand the phenomenon. GIs tend to emerge in the informal economy and rural setting, and they tend to face several socio-political–cultural–economic–technological limitations. GIs are the outcome of prevailing disparity and an environment that has not provided enough opportunities for a better standard of living. This study offers a contextual understanding of the GI movement and processes of institutionalisation. The finding suggests that institutionalisation of GIs is the outcome of the grassroots movement, networking, learning processes, acceptance of innovation, and diffusion processes. GIs have emerged as an effective tool developed by uneducated people to solve local problems.