Government As Entrepreneur

Government acts as entrepreneur when its involvement in market activities is both innovative and characterized by entrepreneurial risk. Thinking of government as entrepreneur is a unique lens through which the authors of this book examine a specific subset of U.S. government policy actions. As such, their viewpoint underscores the purposeful intent of government, its ability to act in new and innovative ways, and its willingness to undertake policy actions that have uncertain outcomes. Viewing particular policy actions through an entrepreneurial lens is useful in two broad dimensions. First, it underscores the forward looking nature of policy makers as well as the need to evaluate the social outputs and outcomes of their behavior in terms of broad spillover impacts. Second, government acting as entrepreneur parallels in concept similar activities that occur in the private sector. Government as Entrepreneur is the first broad effort to emphasize the entrepreneurial aspects of governments. It is also the first systematic treatment of U.S. innovation policies to promote the formation of strategic research partnerships. It will foster a new perspective on the role of government and how incentives for government to act entrepreneurially might be institutionalized; it will serve as a vehicle for policy makers and scholars to think about the entrepreneurial actors in an economy, in a new way.

List of Tables and Figures; List of Acronyms; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Thinking Big Again; Chapter 1: From Crisis Ideology to the Division of Innovative Labour; Chapter 2: Technology, Innovation and Growth; Chapter 3: Risk-Taking State: From 'De-risking' to 'Bring It On!'; Chapter 4: The US Entrepreneurial State; Chapter 5: The State behind the iPhone; Chapter 6: Pushing vs. Nudging the Green Industrial Revolution; Chapter 7: Wind and Solar Power: Government Success Stories and Technology in Crisis; Chapter 8: Risks and Rewards: From Rotten Apples to Symbiotic Ecosystems; Chapter 9: So.

Businesses have developed an increasingly sophisticated appreciation of the policy process, as well as an ability to develop complex strategies to influence it, over the last 30 years. This volume reviews current debates on the role of business in politics and it assesses emerging methodological approaches to its study.

A calculation of the social returns to innovation /Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers --Innovation and human capital policy /John Van Reenen --Immigration policy levers for US innovation and start-ups /Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr --Scientific grant funding /Pierre Azoulay and Danielle Li --Tax policy for innovation /Bronwyn H. Hall --Taxation and innovation: what do we know? /Ufuk Akcigit and Stefanie Stantcheva --Government incentives for entrepreneurship /Josh Lerner.

ÔI canÕt think of a more qualified scholar to tackle the difficult subject of ÒgovernpreneurshipÓ than Bob Hisrich. His vast experience in and knowledge of entrepreneurship has enabled a thorough application of entrepreneurial principles to government organizations. This book should be recommended reading for everyone in government at every level. We can only hope that a new era of governpreneurship is launched with this useful and practical guide.Õ Ð Thomas N. Duening, University of Colorado, US Challenging the traditional view that entrepreneurship is exclusively a private-sector concern, Governpreneurship presents a compelling argument for increased focus on entrepreneurship in public sector organizations. The only book to date to focus specifically on government entrepreneurship, this innovative volume combines Robert D. HisrichÕs vast theoretical knowledge with the practical experience of Amr Al-Dabbagh, who applied entrepreneurship in the Saudi public sector with excellent results. Featuring forewords by former US President Bill Clinton and former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, as well as four case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of government entrepreneurship in action, this fascinating book breaks new ground in a rapidly growing field. In a time when government funds are being reduced and its services increasingly questioned, fostering an entrepreneurial spirit within the government becomes a vital concern. Although there is no ideal model for achieving government entrepreneurship, this volume outlines a number of innovative strategies designed to help public sector managers undertake their public mission while developing an entrepreneurial culture within their organization. The authors offer thorough and indispensible advice covering every aspect of government entrepreneurship, from framework to policy to funding and beyond. Finally, the book concludes with four case studies that explore successful government entrepreneurial undertakings in Ireland, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. Government officials and other leaders in the public sector will find this book an indispensible guide to establishing an entrepreneurial focus in their organizations. Professors and students working in entrepreneurship, public sector management, and other business-related fields will also have much to admire in this innovative addition to the literature.

Seizing opportunities, inventing new products, transforming markets--entrepreneurs are an important and well-documented part of the private sector landscape. Do they have counterparts in the public sphere? The authors argue that they do, and test their argument by focusing on agents of dynamic political change in suburbs across the United States, where much of the entrepreneurial activity in American politics occurs. The public entrepreneurs they identify are most often mayors, city managers, or individual citizens. These entrepreneurs develop innovative ideas and implement new service and tax arrangements where existing administrative practices and budgetary allocations prove inadequate to meet a range of problems, from economic development to the racial transition of neighborhoods. How do public entrepreneurs emerge? How much does the future of urban development depend on them? This book answers these questions, using data from over 1,000 local governments. The emergence of public entrepreneurs depends on a set of familiar cost-benefit calculations. Like private sector risk-takers, public entrepreneurs exploit opportunities emerging from imperfect markets for public goods, from collective-action problems that impede private solutions, and from situations where information is costly and the supply of services is uneven. The authors augment their quantitative analysis with ten case studies and show that bottom-up change driven by politicians, public managers, and other local agents obeys regular and predictable rules.

"A landmark in the debate on the future of public policy."—The Washington Post.

No business operates in America today under purely market forces.Myriad rules and regulations govern every area of business conduct: from establishing the firm to ensuring protection of the environment to hiring and firing policies. More than half of all startups that fail in the first year do so not because they produce inferior products or neglect to analyze the competition, but because they do not understand the regulatory environment in which they operate. In What Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Government, Wesley Truitt presents the most comprehensive overview of government regulation and its impact on business management to date. Covering all levels of regulation (federal, state, and local/municipal) and all stages in a firm's growth cycle (establishment, expansion, and liquidation), Truitt shows entrepreneurs and managers of established business alike how to navigate the minefield of rules and policies that oversee business activity. Drawing from a wide variety of primary data sources and his own extensive experience in the public and private sectors, Truitt clearly explains how government regulation of business has evolved and analyzes its positive and negative implications for management. Featuring descriptions of all the key agencies and summaries of major laws, Truitt offers practical guidance through a huge array of issues, including: intellectual property protection, legal incorporation, product safety and liability, taxes, mergers and acquisitions, employee benefit programs, divestiture, and much more. He identifies common pitfalls to avoid, ways to benefit through government assistance programs, and methods for influencing the policymaking process. Including practical checklists and extensive listings of informational resources, What Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Government is an essential guide for any business competing in the not-so-free market.

In this policy-shaping book, Osborne and Gaebler show the way toward nothing less than an American perestroika, shaking up accepted notions of what governance means with success stories of ghetto schools that brilliantly educate, sanitation departments that make a profit, and police departments that are as efficient as any high-tech corporation.

This book demonstrates how political entrepreneurs – entrepreneurially minded citizens who launch innovative political start-ups – can drive political change. Building on unique insights, rich examples and personal stories of centrist political entrepreneurs distilled from 40 in-depth interviews, the author guides readers through key stages of political entrepreneurship, and shows how to master them. By equally highlighting successes and failures, the book reveals how political entrepreneurs actually go about producing transformative political change. In light of the populist challenge and the decline of traditional political parties, the book also offers an entertaining backstage view and first-hand insights into the successes of En Marche in France, Ciudadanos in Spain, NEOS in Austria and other centrist political startups. It provides practical advice on how to learn from and replicate their successes. Political practitioners and other politically interested readers will find a useful theory of Political Entrepreneurship – what it is, how it works, and what its role is in 21st century democracies. Most of all, they will find essential, reproducible tools and methods. “You have read a lot about startups in business, but if you want to know how Silicon Valley style startups look in politics, read this. Its author is not only writing about political entrepreneurs, he is one of them.” Ivan Krastev (Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, and permanent Fellow at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna) “No one understands better what it takes to take a political start up from ideation to the parliament than Josef Lentsch. In ‘Political Entrepreneurship’ he combines first-hand experience with a thoughtful review of what we know about entrepreneurship in the interest of society.” Johanna Mair (Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership at the Hertie School of Governance, and Co-Director Global Innovation for Impact Lab at Stanford University) “Josef Lentsch has produced a fascinating, commanding guide to the new, insurgent players shaking up traditional party systems and reinvigorating liberal politics. Political Entrepreneurship is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand today's fragmented and disrupted European politics - and the European politics of the future.” Jeremy Cliffe (Charlemagne columnist, The Economist) "The rarest of events has occurred - a new political species has appeared in the European eco-system, the centrist political start up. From Macron's En Marche in France to Spain's Ciudadanos, a new type of political actor has emerged. Few are better positioned to tell this Europe-wide story than Josef Lentsch who has had a front-seat view on this important political transformation that is shaking Europe. A dramatic and important account." Daniel Ziblatt (Eaton Professor of Government, Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die)