ABSTRACT
The concept of public entrepreneurship can be traced at least to the doctoral dissertation of Elinor Ostrom (1965), where she analyzes the process of finding a governance solution to a commons problem. Public entrepreneurship can, however, also occur for strictly self-interested reasons, for example, to introduce rent-seeking opportunities. We argue that the extent of public entrepreneurship will depend on the personal skills and traits of decision-makers, but also on the institutional framework. We also argue that public entrepreneurship needs to overcome a strong status quo orientation, and will therefore be usually reactive, and occur primarily when a status quo becomes untenable. We caution that expectations of benevolent public entrepreneurs efficiently directing economic evolution are likely to be disappointed.
