Institutional

Institutional is an adjective used to describe matters relating to institutions—formal organizations such as governments, universities, companies, and other long-standing social structures—and the practices, norms, and rules that operate within or through them. The term can refer to human-made arrangements that provide stability, governance, and coordination, as well as the processes by which practices become established within a system. The word derives from Latin institutum, meaning an established order.

In social science and political discourse, institutional analysis studies how formal rules and informal norms shape behavior and outcomes, including governance, markets, and policy implementation. In economics, institutional economics emphasizes the role of rules, conventions, and organizations in shaping economic activity. In business and finance, “institutional” commonly describes large organizations such as banks, funds, or pension plans that influence markets, or the set of formal and informal rules governing corporate behavior and governance.

The term also appears in contexts of care and service delivery (institutional care or housing), and in critiques of systemic structures, such as institutional bias, institutional racism, or corruption, where established procedures may entrench inequities. As a concept, institutional refers to both the existence of durable organizations and the processes by which they shape social life, often invoking considerations of legitimacy, efficiency, and reform.