The Diffusion of Local Administrative Innovation: Investigating Municipal Climate Managers in the State of Hessen in Central Germany

ABSTRACT

Many cities and municipalities aim to address climate change, yet their rigid administrative structures often constrain effective action. Therefore, local authorities must innovate to build administrative capacity and enable work across departmental silos. However, we lack knowledge of how such administrative innovations emerge and become more widespread. To address this gap, this article examines administrative innovation from a diffusion perspective, drawing on a novel theoretical framework of soft diffusion channels. It studies the establishment of climate manager positions across all 426 municipalities in the German state of Hessen between 2008 and 2023. Event history models suggest that the creation of these positions, most with federal grant support, is associated with various diffusion channels, including county‐level policy examples and membership in a state‐run climate network, as well as additional capacity indicators. Thus, the diffusion of local administrative innovation resembles a multi‐channel process that practitioners at different government levels can actively support.