TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose Existing scholarship indicates that more research is needed to explore beneficial spillovers from public entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in that literature by examining a case of public entrepreneurship by a corporation. While political engagement by private firms frequently reduces to rent-seeking, this paper explores an instance in which public entrepreneurship by a private firm lead to beneficial spillovers – specifically, positive externalities resulting from the engagement of Cummins Engine Company with city government in Columbus, Indiana. In the case study, these spillovers consist of improved infrastructure, altered norms, and the reintroduction of economic calculation.Design/methodology/approach This case study uses publications in popular outlets, newspapers, and historical documents to understand the relationship between Cummins Engine Company and its local government.Findings Contrary to the presumption that public engagement by private firms necessarily reduces to rent-seeking, the activities of the Cummins Engine Company lead to beneficial public spillovers by way of improved infrastructure and norms, as well as by restoring a degree of economic calculation to the production of public buildings in Columbus, Indiana.Originality/value The authors illustrate the precise mechanisms that generate the potential spillovers from public entrepreneurship that Klein et al. (2010) explore theoretically.
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
SN  - 2045-2101
DO  - 10.1108/JEPP-03-2016-0010
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-03-2016-0010
AU  - Fuller Caleb
AU  - DelliSanti Dylan
PY  - 2017
Y1  - 2017/01/01
TI  - Spillovers from public entrepreneurship: a case study
T2  - Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 72
EP  - 91
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -