Institutional Voids and Digital Ecosystems of India’s Public Sector

This study investigates how the idiosyncrasies of the political economy of India interact with the emerging structure of ecosystem economy. The paper argues that the digital ecosystems in India are promoted by the public sector and that they interact closely with institutional voids. It uses theory of ecosystems to conceptualize two digital innovations by India’s public sector and investigates how those ecosystems interact with institutional voids. The paper uses discourse analysis to identify the value propositions of the ecosystems and the constraints on their expansion. The analysis shows that while ecosystems may be established to overcome the shortcoming of the market, it is also clear that such institutional voids can impede growth of the ecosystems. The implications of these findings to public policy and business strategies are discussed.