Foreign firms play an important, but frequently overlooked, role in transforming institutions that organize and govern agrifood systems, particularly in developing and transition economies. The fast food industry, which relies on standardization and brand consistency, provides a useful case for observing the globalization of supply chain relationships. Through qualitative research on the fast food industry in post-Soviet Russia, this dissertation examines how foreign firms introduce market institutions which are then employed, reinterpreted, and adapted by local actors.;This dissertation comprises three papers, each examining distinct aspects of institutional changes in Russia's burgeoning fast food industry. The first examines changing dynamics of supply chain governance. While the global value chain (GVC) literature focuses on supply chains that are global in the literal sense, I argue that domestically-bound chains led by global firms provide important cases for study. In-depth interviews provide support for modifying GVC theories regarding how domestic contexts impinge on the balance of inter-firm power. I identify factors that provide leverage for domestic actors in these supply chains: regulatory uncertainty, emerging domestic product markets, and the competing interests of foreign firms.;The second paper investigates responses to the regulatory landscape defined by competing quality standards. Although agrifood standards are envisioned as promoting uniformity, in practice they often contribute to variation. I argue that this variation results in part from the increasing tendency of standards to overlap, intersect, and even contradict each other; multiple competing standards can both undermine expected standardizing effects and empower producers to adopt and incorporate standards in novel ways.;The final paper challenges conventional wisdom about the degree to which the selection of individuals and firms relies on social ties. Analysis of in-depth interviews suggests that, more than personal relationships, a company's reputation marks employees and contracting firms as amenable to Western business practices, norms, and standards. I argue that global firms contribute to a shift from reliance on social ties to reputational signals.;Taken together, these chapters describe relationships between domestic and foreign actors in Russia's fast food industry. Observations inform arguments regarding the mechanisms and implications of institutional changes arising from this interaction.
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