Subnational policy entrepreneurs in action: a systematic quantitative review

Todd Yuda Shi & Alex Jingwei He

Journal of Public Policy2025https://doi.org/10.1017/s0143814x25000108article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.46

Abstract

There is a prominent literature explaining how policy entrepreneurs, as active agents, promote policy changes. However, most existing studies focus on policy entrepreneurship at the national level, with limited attention paid to the vibrant dynamics of numerous local government innovations typically driven by entrepreneurial individuals. This systematic review seeks to take stock of the empirical literature on subnational policy entrepreneurship, in order to consolidate scholarly knowledge, identify generalizable patterns, and inform future research. Following a well-established review protocol, we collected 64 articles through a thorough literature search, with 122 sets of individual entrepreneurs reported in the sample, and coded all cases based on individual-level attributes and processual characteristics. Remarkable diversity is noted in terms of (1) the policy sector; (2) forms of entrepreneurship; (3) policy change outcomes; (4) level of jurisdiction; and (5) key characteristics of the individual entrepreneurs. We find salient patterns in the entrepreneurial motivations and strategies used.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0143814x25000108

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@article{todd2025,
  title        = {{Subnational policy entrepreneurs in action: a systematic quantitative review}},
  author       = {Todd Yuda Shi & Alex Jingwei He},
  journal      = {Journal of Public Policy},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0143814x25000108},
}

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Evidence weight

0.46

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.37 × 0.4 = 0.15
M · momentum0.60 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.