Temporary Regulations and Institutional Change: Insights from the Brazilian World Cup Experience

While institutional theory has extensively examined how durable regulations contribute to institutional change, little is known about how temporary regulations—pervasive in modern societies—can transform institutions. This study examines how and why temporary regulations can lead to lasting institutional change by analyzing Brazil’s temporary legalization of beer sales and consumption in stadiums during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Using extensive qualitative data, we develop a process model explaining how the introduction of a temporary regulation creates an opportunity for society to experience a counter-normative practice and learn from it. During this period, multiple institutional actors—while pursuing objectives far removed from considerations of institutional change—perform various types of institutional work to contain the practice’s expected negative outcomes. This institutional work unintendedly generates new societal understandings about the practice’s risks and consequences, which interested actors then leverage to achieve lasting institutional change. We advance institutional theory by identifying an unexplored path of institutional change through temporary regulations, demonstrating how temporary regulations can enable practice variations and institutional learning, and revealing how institutional maintenance work can drive change. Our insights suggest that temporary regulations can be valuable policy tools for reducing uncertainty and enabling learning about alternative institutional arrangements.