Purpose: Only a few concepts in the service literature are as pervasive yet as undertheorized as is the concept of the actor. With a growing interest toward value creation as a systemic and institutionally guided phenomenon, there is a particular need for a more robust conceptualization of...

Purpose: This study aims to identify institutional work mechanisms that public actors employ in market shaping. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses an abductive theorizing process, combining a literature review with an empirical exploration of three different market-shaping contexts....