Policy Entrepreneurs Research Articles

Investigating the dynamics of managerial dialogue in HE merger reform

AbstractThe paper argues that the empirical study of public policy making almost exclusively deals with structural arrangements and power relations, while giving insufficient attention to how policy entrepreneurs in government develop policy initiatives through venue selection, framing, and dialogue. Drawing on insight from theories of public policymaking and organizational decision-making, public management, and on data from a case study of higher education merger reform in Norway, the article provides a conceptual and empirical contribution by suggesting the significance of managerial dialogue — highlighting a specific combination of dialogue, power asymmetries, managerialism, and venue selection as important elements in higher education reform policymaking.

Who can I be now? The complexity of students in policy enactment

ABSTRACT This paper aims to contribute to the field of policy enactment studies with a deepened understanding of the significance of the students when a pedagogical vision is enacted. The paper is based on a single case study using observations, surveys, interviews, and document studies. Informed by policy enactment theory, we analyse the students’ role in enacting the vision at the newly established Newschool, which emphasises entrepreneurship and challenge-based learning. The analysis shows that the student intake and population is of paramount importance for enacting the vision. The first generation of students was not particularly interested in the vision, which affected its enactment. Some were more interested in friendship projects, and others in getting good grades. Still, the students do enact the vision as policy narrators, entrepreneurs, receivers, survivors, and critics. However, the students oscillate between different policy roles depending on the context, which indicates that role positioning is complex. The longitudinal ethnographic approach and the different methods of the study were important for reaching multifaceted interpretations of various incidents at the school. An implication for school practitioners is that preconceived ideas about ideal students might hinder visionary work should the students not be those expected.

Contextual factors impacting WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implementation in Africa-a scoping review.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use causes over 8 million deaths annually including 1.3 million due to second-hand exposure. Furthermore, data from the Tobacco Atlas show that the tobacco industry continues to target new markets in the WHO African region, one of two regions where absolute numbers of smokers continue to increase. Understanding context contributes to policy formulation and implementation ensuring relevance to a country's political economy. Focusing on the WHO African region, this scoping review (i) maps the extent of academic research examining contextual factors on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) national-level implementation, and (ii) reports on contextual factors impacting the WHO FCTC implementation. Using a stepwise structured approach, we conducted a search across four academic databases, yielding 10 342 articles and 42 were selected for full data extraction. Leichter's four categories of context (situational, structural, cultural and exogenous) and the stages of heuristic policy model guided data extraction. Study findings indicated that situational contextual factors such as the burden of disease or its impact on health can push governments toward policy formulation. Structural contextual factors included political considerations, economic interests, funding, institutional congruence, strength of policy and institutional capacity as important. Cultural contextual factors included the influence of policy entrepreneurs, current social trends and public opinion. Exogenous contextual factors included the WHO FCTC, tobacco industry influence at the national-level and bi-lateral partnerships. Further understanding contextual factors affecting the WHO FCTC national implementation can strengthen policy formulation and align required support with the WHO FCTC Secretariat and other relevant bodies.

‘사이버폭력예방 정책’의 결정 과정 분석 -다중흐름모형을 중심으로-

This study investigates the decision-making process that led to the inclusion of “cyberbullying” within the definition of school violence in the School Violence Prevention Act and the establishment of a definition for cyberbullying. To identify the main factors influencing this decision, the study uses Kingdon’s multiple streams framework analyzing the problem stream, policy stream, and political stream, as well as identifying the policy entrepreneurs involved. The results of this analysis are as follows. The process of establishing the policy agenda was influenced by the convergence of the political stream and the problem stream, which then combined with the policy stream. The decisive factor affecting this process was the COVID-19 pandemic, whose adverse effects on online learning and the results of school violence surveys served as critical elements within the problem stream. This stream combined with the political stream, with key factors being the side effects of online learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and The Blue Tree Foundation’s efforts to prevent and eradicate cyberbullying. As leading policy entrepreneurs, The Blue Tree Foundation, the Ministry of Education, and members of the National Assembly actively led the policy stream, serving as important factors in the policy decision-making process. These various factors led to the inclusion of cyberbullying in the Act on the Prevention of School Violence and the establishment of its definition.

Exploring the Mechanisms of the Development of Social Welfare Policies for Vulnerable Children in China—A Multicase Study

ABSTRACTWith China's shift from its planned economy to a market economy in the early 1980s, followed by the tremendous socioeconomic changes in the 1990s and beyond that were initiated by the reform and opening‐up, vulnerable children have emerged as a growing population. In response to the rising needs of those vulnerable children, the Chinese government has developed a series of social welfare policies (SWPs). However, few studies have examined the policymaking processes and the mechanisms for forming and changing China's SWPs for vulnerable children. Therefore, to bridge that research gap we have focused in this study on the agenda‐setting of SWPs for vulnerable children in China. We selected the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) as our conceptual framework, and we used the process‐tracing approach to analyse the mechanisms of China's SWP development for vulnerable children. Using a multicase study, we found that a specific ‘focusing event’ formed a problem stream in each case. Then, helped by the media and the Internet, those focusing events triggered the national mood and shaped public opinion, which in turn formed a politics stream. Feeling growing pressure from the public, political leaders assigned tasks via written instructions intended to solve the problems and ensure that local governments act immediately. Hence, written instructions became a policy stream, and political leaders were the policy entrepreneurs. This article contributes to the theory by examining the MSF with China's cases and then modifying the framework with Chinese characteristics.

Banning protests at oil and gas sites: The influence of policy entrepreneurs and political pressure

Banning protests at oil and gas sites: The influence of policy entrepreneurs and political pressure

Gender and social entrepreneurship in turbulent waters: developing a gender-aware conceptual framework

PurposeThis paper identifies and maps themes and critiques emerging from feminist-informed and gender-focused mainstream entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship (SE) literature. We aim to develop a robust, theoretically informed gender-aware framework for future SE research.Design/methodology/approachA five-stage literature review process was undertaken to identify the common themes, key knowledge gaps and areas of contention highlighted by feminist critiques of mainstream entrepreneurship and what we refer to here as the “critical SE literature”. We draw on a widely used framework of epistemological approaches to discuss the emergent themes, specifically utilising three dominant epistemologies previously found to map onto entrepreneurship policy, those being: “gender as variable”, feminist standpoint and feminist poststructuralist positions.FindingsWe find feminist perspectives on SE particularly distinctive for their high reliance on relational and embedded accounts of the economy, more attentive to collectivist themes like “belongingness” in the performance of gender and identity, and maintaining a challenge to neoliberal and postfeminist norms. Anchoring each perspective in their respective epistemologies, we demonstrate their lineage in critiques of mainstream entrepreneurship and critical (non-feminist) SE. However, divergences from these lineages lead us to identify diversely contextualised and value-adding feminist accounts of SE that add richness and nuance to mainstream entrepreneurship theorising.Research limitations/implicationsThe relative “youth” of the gender-focused and feminist-informed SE literature, alongside the theoretical relevance of the feminist critique of mainstream entrepreneurship and critical social entrepreneurship literature, lead us to draw on the strengths of a more interpretivist paradigm in our research. This amplifies our ability to support the revelation of conceptual connections and relationships between emergent themes, theories, epistemologies and approaches drawn from multidisciplinary sources and to thereby enhance the reach, and associated value, of our research findings.Originality/valueThis review responds to calls for a gender-aware framework for social entrepreneurship research by (1) developing a set of original emergent themes, (2) tracing their intellectual lineage in associated research fields and (3) using them to deepen the connection between feminist epistemologies and entrepreneurship concepts.

Civil society coalitions in the EU media regulation: when field theory meets network analysis

ABSTRACT The field of Eurocracy has increasingly been shaped by the emergence of actors lobbying on the area of digital regulation, which has heavily increased during the Von der Leyen Commission. We study the extra-institutional actor networks that have been involved in the EU digital policy formulation, and hypothesise that beyond clearly visible networks of opposition, the subjacent social structure of discourse networks was dominated by Big Tech. We do so by analysing the role of actor coalitions that have emerged to channel specific demands and pressures in relation to the ongoing regulatory struggle, as well as the dominant discourse coalitions. Specifically, we use Social Network Analysis to examine the cooperation and competition patterns among the actors involved. Our work is relevant for the study of EU personnel in two ways. First, digital regulation is a pertinent example of dynamics in emerging fields, where dominating policy entrepreneurs establish discursive dominance over a long time. Second, our innovative methodological approach indicates why analysing organisational discourses are relevant to understand the networks that contribute to the structure of the EU field.

Beyond regulatory capture: Policy entrepreneurs' strategies in regulatory policies under authoritarianism

AbstractThis article examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in countering regulatory capture, a phenomenon whereby regulatory bodies influenced by industry lobbying often prioritize private over public interests. The study employs an abductive process‐tracing approach to investigate the 2013 drug pricing reform in Morocco, illustrating how substantial policy shifts can occur even in authoritarian contexts susceptible to regulatory capture. The findings underscore the pivotal role of Houcine El Ouardi, the former Minister of Health, whose strategic leadership exemplified policy entrepreneurship. His capacity to navigate and surmount industry resistance was instrumental to the reform's success, culminating in a significant reduction in drug prices. This case challenges conventional wisdom regarding regulatory capture, demonstrating that individual agency can reshape regulatory outcomes despite opposition. By elucidating how policy entrepreneurs can drive transformative change in resistant regulatory environments under authoritarian regimes, the study contributes to the literature on policy entrepreneurship and regulation.

Media coverage of antimicrobial resistance in Germany and Switzerland: An interpretation through the multiple streams framework

This article analyzes the newspaper coverage of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) between 1999 and 2021 in Germany and Switzerland through the lens of the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF). The MSF serves as an organizing framework to trace the development of AMR media coverage by focusing on key elements of the policy process: problems, solutions, problem brokers and policy entrepreneurs. The analysis produces three main findings: First, the overall newspaper coverage of AMR is increasing from 1999 to 2021, albeit non-linearly but related to specific events. Second, the general growth in AMR and the use of antibiotics with animals are the most frequently mentioned problems. Different types of solutions are prominent in the media, but only some actors manage to connect their preferred solution to a given problem, while other solutions appear independently of specific problems. Third, scientific and state actors from the national level are most prominent in AMR media coverage, and potentially act as entrepreneurs. Overall, the analysis highlights the diversity of problems, solutions, and actors, and thus of multiple perspectives and dynamics, on AMR as an issue of emerging attention.

A Yin-Yang Perspective of Street-Level Policy Entrepreneurs

We introduce a cultural perspective, Yin-Yang logic, to explore how street-level policy entrepreneurs (SLPEs) formulate policy and foster inter-local collaborations across 14 Chinese cities. Drawing on a case forming the Chinese Eastern Northeast Economic Zone (2003-2016), we identify 20 critical incidents through interviews and content analysis. We make four main theoretical contributions: (i) this study is the first in the SLPEs literature to introduce a cultural perspective, the Yin-Yang logic, for understanding the complex yet central role that SLPEs play in policy innovation; (ii) it reveals a sequential six-stage process view in policy innovation formation from the Yin-Yang perspective; (iii) it extends our understanding of policy actors, SLPEs, as change agents outside Western democracies and provides the Yin-Yang perspective for dealing with the contextual paradoxical conditions; and (iv) SLPEs demonstrate three Yin-Yang framed capabilities in harnessing the natural momentum (shi) generated by the interaction and balancing forces of Yin-Yang dynamics.

Impact of Entrepreneurship Education and Policy on Vietnamese Youth’s Entrepreneurship Readiness and Intentions

This study aims at investigating impact of entrepreneurship education and policy on Vietnamese youth’s entrepreneurship readiness and intentions. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to explore the relationship among different factors. In this research, the moderating variable was entrepreneurship mentor while intermediate variables were comprised of age, gender as well as educational background. The primary data was collected through online survey questionnaire with Vietnamese youngsters. There were 583 valid responses, which were processed with SPSS and AMOS software. The analyzed data demonstrated that 5 hypotheses were accepted. This proved that entrepreneurship intention was influenced by entrepreneurship policy and education. The factor of entrepreneurship mentor played the intermediate role within the relationship between entrepreneurship readiness and intention of Vietnamese youth.

Developing the concept of consequential senior European Union civil servants as sub-political policy entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT In a 2022 article the author described the late Sir Julian Priestley, Secretary-General of the European Parliament, 1997–2007, as being a ‘consequential senior European Union civil servant’, notably because of initiatives Priestley championed to provide simultaneous interpretation for all languages in an enlarged European Union – a facility not guaranteed at the time but which provided the Parliament with continued democratic legitimacy. This article builds on and develops that ‘consequential’ concept, by identifying some further examples of such consequential senior EU civil servants and then by teasing out common aspects of their roles and activities. It posits that they are in effect sub-political policy entrepreneurs (in the Kingdon definition) who can and do have significant effects on the development of their institutions and of the Union more generally. It shows how they share certain characteristics: long service in or with ‘their’ institutions, enabling them to develop reformist visions; political coverage; the determination to see their visions through. The fact that they remain sub-political raises potential questions about political legitimacy. The article concludes by questioning whether the phenomenon is specific to the European Union or can also be observed in national civil services and the secretariats of other international organisations.

The Effect of Green Entrepreneurship Education on Green Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Case Study of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

This study integrates the concept of green entrepreneurship into the entrepreneurship education system, and grasps the correct way to promote the green entrepreneurship intention of college students. The model of promoting college students’ green entrepreneurship intention with policy support is constructed to answer the following research questions: what is the internal mechanism of green entrepreneurship education in promoting green entrepreneurship intention of college students in Guangxi, and how does green entrepreneurship policy affect its internal mechanism? Through a questionnaire survey of 304 college students from major cities in Guangxi, China, this paper investigates how college green entrepreneurship education affects college students’ green entrepreneurship intention through the desirability and feasibility of green entrepreneurship and actively explores the regulatory role of the institutional environment. The results show that the desirability and feasibility of green entrepreneurship play a mediating role between green entrepreneurship education and the promotion of college students’ green entrepreneurship intention, and the regulatory environment positively moderates the positive effect of desirability and feasibility of green entrepreneurship on green entrepreneurship intention. This study contributes to the literature on green entrepreneurship. On the one hand, by studying the mediating mechanism of green entrepreneurship desirability and feasibility, this study has added empirical evidence on the promotion effect of green entrepreneurship education on the green entrepreneurship intention of college students. On the other hand, this study emphasizes the impact of policy regulation on the strengthening process of college students’ green entrepreneurial intention. This study will help to build a characteristic and effective green entrepreneurship education system in colleges and universities, enhance college students’ green entrepreneurship intention and green core competitiveness, and drive them to enhance their sense of social responsibility and build “green development” values.

Political will as a source of policy innovation

AbstractIn an era of disruptive global challenges, from climate crises to pandemics, understanding the drivers of drastic policy innovation is paramount. This study defines drastic policy innovation as a significant shift in governmental priorities through policies untried by most jurisdictions in a country. While policy entrepreneurs are often credited with initiating change, this study argues that political will is essential for enacting and implementing such innovative policies. Political will is defined as the degree of commitment among key decision makers to enact and implement specific policies. It is characterized by three key components: authority (the power to enact and enforce policy), capacity (the resources to implement it effectively), and legitimacy (the perceived rightfulness of actions by stakeholders). Through the case of low‐carbon city experimentation in China, this study examines how political will drives the adoption and implementation of these policies. The findings reveal that a high level of political will is significantly linked to more drastically innovative policies being enacted and implemented and that when political will is institutionalized, implementation continues despite leadership turnover. These insights likely apply to other policy contexts and countries, regardless of regime type, albeit with some caveats.

How self-interest and symbolic politics shape the effectiveness of compensation for nearby housing development

Abstract Policy with concentrated costs often faces intense localized opposition. Both private and governmental actors frequently use financial compensation to attempt to overcome this opposition. We measure how effective such compensation is for winning policy support in the arena of housing development. We build a novel survey platform that shows respondents images of their self-reported neighborhood with hypothetical renderings of new housing superimposed on existing structures. Using a sample of nearly 600 Bostonians, we find that compensating residents increases their support for nearby market-rate housing construction. However, compensation does not influence support for affordable housing. We theorize that the inclusion of affordable housing activates symbolic attitudes, decreasing the importance of financial self-interest and thus the effectiveness of compensation. Our findings suggest greater interaction between self-interest and symbolic politics within policy design than previously asserted. Together, this research signals opportunities for coalition building by policy entrepreneurs when facing opposition due to concentrated costs.

An emotional perspective on the Multiple Streams Framework

AbstractEmotions are central to human behavior and, consequently, play a significant role in policymaking. While the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) incorporates the notion of “public mood” into the political stream, this concept primarily focuses on a fleeting, less intense, and diffuse emotional state that is not necessarily linked to a specific triggering event or policy‐related object. To address this limitation, the current article draws on robust findings from political psychology, viewing and interpreting the MSF through an emotional lens. It investigates the intersections between emotions, on the one hand, and the assumptions and structural elements of the MSF, on the other, by sharpening existing concepts—such as the emotional agenda (policy) window, emotional decision window, and emotional policy entrepreneurs—to examine emotionality in policy dynamics. It concludes by discussing how an emotional perspective on the MSF can help scholars generate nuanced hypotheses, overcome the MSF's metaphorical language, and gauge when policy may be in search of a rationale.

The Futuristic Entrepreneurial Actions for Tribal Farmers of North-east India

The North-East region of India, with its rich cultural diversity and biodiversity, is especially well-suited for agricultural growth. Given its potential, one would expect this region to be at the forefront of agri-entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, with the last few years, agriculture and its supplementary sectors became crucial components of entrepreneurial projects buoyed up by the existing need for sustainable food production, appropriate management of resources, and improving the living standards in rural areas. However, this expectation contrasts with findings from Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) studies for North-East region of India. Therefore, the study aimed to identify future entrepreneurial actions in the Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Using an open-ended questionnaire, the researchers employed a triangulation approach to analyse potential ventures in the region. The study identified ten key entrepreneurial actions. Agro-tourism emerged as the top choice among local tribal farmers, while the commercialization of Mishmi teeta (a traditional medicinal plant) was ranked highest by experts in the region. These findings offer valuable insights for stakeholders in the region. The study highlights the entrepreneurial interests of tribal farmers and suggest areas for entrepreneurial policy development in the region. Additionally, the findings also offer actionable insights for designing training programs or policy initiatives aiming to empower tribal farmers through entrepreneurship in agricultural and allied sector.

Policy entrepreneurship for transformative governance

AbstractScholarship is growing on societal transitions, describing radical societal change involving multiple sectors and scales, and transformative governance, describing how public, private, and civil society actors use tools of policy to pursue this fundamental change, aiming to build resiliency and sustainability. Much of this literature has a systems‐level focus and does not closely examine how governance participants, working individually or collectively, can steer a jurisdiction toward or away from transformativeness. This paper offers a corrective, integrating policy entrepreneurship scholarship with transformative governance research to advance understanding of how human agency underpins societal change. Drawing on accounts from 50 interviewees across eight case studies of US cities grappling with flooding hazards, we show how policy entrepreneurship can boost the political and economic resources that city officials rely upon to help propel radical shifts towards greater social, economic, and environmental equity.

Upskilling India: The national policy on skill development and entrepreneurship

Background India’s National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (NPSDE) was designed to capture the demographic dividend and upskill India’s youth, creating an ‘Athmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) and in the process, also drive economic growth. Policy and Implications The NPSDE’s dual focus on skill development and entrepreneurship was intended to create a framework for empowering India’s workforce and fostering a culture of innovation. However, the policy has encountered several issues, including the ineffective functioning of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), inadequate infrastructure, and insufficiently skilled trainers. Additionally, the policy’s efforts to include marginalized groups, particularly women, have fallen short due to entrenched social barriers and gender biases, impacting the effectiveness of training programs. Recommendations To improve the effectiveness of the NPSDE, we propose the following recommendations -adopt an entrepreneurial ecosystem approach to enhance coordination and support within the skill development framework; explicitly define ‘skill’ and ‘skilling’ to better align with socio-political realities and address barriers faced by marginalized individuals; and design training initiatives with an empowerment perspective, focusing on access to resources, agency, and social change. We feel these steps can help direct the NPSDE to create a more inclusive and impactful skilling environment. Conclusions While the NPSDE represents a significant effort towards upskilling India and fostering self-reliance and entrepreneurship, its implementation has revealed critical limitations. The policy’s progress has been insufficient, with persistent issues in meeting industry needs and addressing socio-economic barriers. Future revisions of the policy should focus on systemic improvements, adopting a more inclusive approach to skilling, and addressing the socio-political dimensions of skill valuation to better support India’s developmental aspirations.