Public Sector Innovation and Diffusion Processes: Decentralisation and Innovation

Much work in electronic government (eGovernment) research was done on innovations from a single-organisational managerial perspective, while little was investigated into sectoral innovation and diffusion processes in public sector organisations. Here, a political science perspective appreciates the embeddedness of public sector innovation and diffusion processes in the surrounding politico-administrative system. At this point, we analyse public sector innovations, specifically eGovernment and NPM innovations, and identify politico-administrative system dynamics shaping the processes of emergence and diffusion. In order to substantiate our investigation, we examine the Japanese case by the means of a literature analysis and a series of qualitative-empirical expert interviews. We demonstrate 1) how vertical decentralisation reforms open up innovation potential for local governments, 2) by which means the central government still holds strong influence on innovation and diffusion processes, and 3) which paths of eGovernment and NPM innovation manifest as a result. Here, we take an interdisciplinary perspective that informs about managerial as well as technological innovations in the public sector. Our findings contribute to understanding IT evolution and innovation reproduction and relate to prevailing public sector decentralisation reforms as to be found in most western governmental systems.