Public Entrepreneurship and Health Policy Innovation

Award Year: 1993	Investigator: Thomas Oliver	Budget: $239,924	Categories: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and R&D
Abstract: Dr. Oliver conducts a systematic analysis of innovative leadership in health policy. He examines the characteristics, activities, and functions of public entrepreneurs individual leaders who help establish new goals, procedures, organizations, or programs in the public sector. He develops: 1) a conceptual foundation for analyzing public entrepreneurship and its contribution to health policy innovation; and 2) exemplary case studies of innovations from various areas of health policy and levels of government. The study distinguishes entrepreneurs from other participants in policy innovation and clarifies the cognition, motivations, resources, and strategies of entrepreneurs. An embedded, multiple-case research design is intended to test and generate theoretical propositions about public entrepreneurship and the process of innovation. This applied social science research provides a better understanding of individuals who think creatively about problems in health care and public health, and how they pursue change through public policy.