This book provides a critical exploration and assessment of public sector innovation, challenging conventional assumptions about the ways in which innovation is generated and how it may succeed or fail.

Focussing on the local level of public sector, the book systematically reviews the multidisciplinary nature of public sector innovation through an intersectional lens that considers mounting issues of public sector complexity, transparency, and accountability for innovative governance. It presents the key elements of the innovation agenda to advance an entrepreneurship ecosystem, whether for “levelling up” or for evolving new and effective models of collaboration for enterprising places. It argues that innovation arises from relationships of power, that it is characterised by risk and unpredictability, and that ultimately, it may not always be good for public organisations or for the users of public services.

This book will be of key interest to scholars, students, and practitioners of local government, public innovation institutions, and more broadly to public policy and management, public administration, public services management, and organisation governance, and strategic management.