Municipal entrepreneurship and energy policy: a five nation study of politics, innovation and social change

Originally published in 1994. The energy crisis of the 1970s provided an opportune climate for public sector entrepreneurship to develop. The authors present case studies from six innovative and diverse municipalities in Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States. The studies document problems these communities encountered while implementing new ideas in energy conservation and changes in energy supply and municipal planning. Each community was selected on the basis of its early, vigorous response to the energy crisis, and then followed up to examine roadblocks along the way to innovation in the public sector. The case studies highlight the challenges policy entrepreneurs face and the tactics they employ, revealing crucial differences between public and private sector entrepreneurship.