The Embedded Network: Institutional Constraints on Collaborative Governance in Indonesia's Aviation Safety Program

ABSTRACT Why do collaborative governance reforms so often falter in non‐Western states with deep administrative traditions? This article argues that while managerial practice is relevant, the primary cause of these shortcomings lies in macro‐level institutional constraints that powerfully shape network outcomes. Through a qualitative case study of Indonesia's mandated State Safety Program (SSP), we trace the network's observed meso‐level pathologies—a weak ad hoc hub and fragmentation—to their macro‐level institutional origins. Our analysis identifies three primary constraining forces: path dependency stemming from macro‐policy, the historical legacy of a siloed state, and friction from entrenched bureaucratic logics. The primary contribution of this research is to advance institutional theory by specifying a clear multi‐level causal mechanism linking macro‐level state institutional constraints to the network's meso‐level structure and its micro‐level procedural dysfunctions. We conclude that for collaborative governance to be effective, reform efforts must shift from improving micro‐level behaviors to strategically targeting the fundamental institutional “rules of the game”.