ABSTRACT
Given that the extent and frequency of adopting innovation vary greatly across local governments around the world, a systematic analysis of local government innovativeness is theoretically, normatively, and practically important. Since the 1960s, the vast literature on local government innovation has sought to explain the origins, strategies, content, and consequences of specific innovation cases. A good deal of local government innovation research in China has emerged in recent years. Different from previous explanations for local government innovations based on internal determinants or external pressures, this study examined how institutional factors, specifically “administrative hierarchy” and “span of control”, influence the propensity of China’s local governments to innovate, using data from the winning and finalist entries of eight local government innovation award competitions spanning 15 years. In Chapter 6, I highlight the main theoretical and empirical findings of this book and discuss their contributions and implications. On this basis, I lay out an agenda for future research on government innovativeness.
