Public sector entrepreneurship: an integrative review

Abstract

Public sector entrepreneurship (PSE) has emerged as a vital field, exploring how public servants leverage opportunities to create public value amidst unprecedented and unpredictable challenges in governance. This article navigates the expansive landscape of PSE literature, consolidating diverse theoretical perspectives and fragmented knowledge into a cohesive framework. Through an integrative and systematic review of 100 articles, we identify PSE as a multi-level phenomenon characterized by a context-dependent combination of proactivity, innovation, and risk-taking, that serves to drive change and renewal, promote resilient organizations, and resourcefully exploit opportunities for public value creation, with the ultimate aim of achieving positive societal and environmental outcomes. By proposing an analytical framework that embraces the fluid nature of PSE and integrating diverse perspectives, this study enriches our understanding of the intersection between entrepreneurship and public administration. It advocates for a nuanced, sector-specific approach to PSE, laying a solid foundation for further advancements in the field.