Are inter-municipal associations the new entrepreneurial nest?

Purpose Public sector entrepreneurship has attracted increasing scholarly attention as a driver of innovation, collaboration, and public value creation. While existing research has conceptualized entrepreneurial orientation and public sector entrepreneurship, limited empirical evidence explains how entrepreneurial governance is enacted and institutionalized through the relational and processual dynamics of inter-municipal collaboration, particularly among small and medium-sized municipalities. This paper addresses this gap by examining how entrepreneurial governance develops through inter-municipal collaboration, with local innovation and resilience as analytically significant dimensions constructed through the interpretive analysis of the data. Design/methodology/approach The study employs an exploratory, qualitative, single-case design, focusing on an inter-municipal initiative coordinated by Alpha Municipality in Southern Italy. Data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews, triangulated with documentary analysis. The material was analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, with findings organized through a Gioia-style data structure as a communicative tool. Findings The findings identify three overarching dimensions of entrepreneurial governance: Entrepreneurial Orientation in Governance, Collaborative Capacity Building, and Community Engagement and Resilience. Entrepreneurial orientation manifests as a collective governance capability rather than an individual or market-driven disposition. Inter-municipal collaboration functions as a dynamic capacity-building mechanism that fosters institutional learning, coordination, and trust, while community engagement operates as a co-creative process that enhances legitimacy and territorial adaptive capacity. Four propositions are advanced to guide future research. Originality/value The study advances an integrated understanding of entrepreneurial governance by bridging public sector entrepreneurship, collaborative governance, and public service ecosystem perspectives. Unlike prior work that has examined inter-municipal collaboration (IMC) primarily for its administrative and fiscal effects, this study empirically reconstructs the capability-building mechanisms through which IMC generates entrepreneurial governance.