How innovation drivers, networking and leadership shape public sector innovation capacity

Abstract

The need to understand innovation in public sector environments is growing. There is also a need to build theory, test it empirically and compare across jurisdictions. This article aims to understand the factors that have an impact on innovation capacity. It examines the self-rated innovation capacity of three European city governments – Barcelona, Copenhagen and Rotterdam – in regard to innovation drivers (structures, processes and contextual factors), external networking (levels of communication outside the municipality) and leadership qualities. Results from an online survey of senior administrators in the cities (n = 323) was used to empirically analyse the relationships between these us..