The diffusion of innovations under normative induction in Brazil

Purpose Hierarchically superior bodies develop normative instructions to induce the diffusion of innovations, stimulating the adoption of management practices in supervised public bodies and seeking public administration efficiency increase. Despite this, the effectiveness of these normative instructions is unknown, as well as its inducing and lasting effects in the diffusion of these innovations, especially in Brazil. This study aims to understand the effects of normative induction. Design/methodology/approach The adoption of risk management, integrity & ethics and information security practices was evaluated over a decade (2009 to 2019), including the adoption behavior of more than 200 Brazilian federal agencies. Public open data were collected and analyzed with multinomial logistic regression. Findings The normative instructions’ effectiveness in propagating the evaluated practices is remarkable; however, its mere development by the superior bodies cannot be considered enough since the general adoption index can be considered good but not excellent. No evaluated practice reached a saturation level above 75%. Research limitations/implications This paper contributes to bringing the international literature’s generic knowledge on the adoption of innovation to the specific Brazilian public administration context, providing insightful implications for policymakers, public managers and researchers. Practical implications This work is unique, as it systematically analyzes multiple innovation adoption and presents excellent opportunities for future researchers by reproducing all scripts and automation developed. Furthermore, all data are available and hosted on public platforms with detailed steps and documentation. Social implications The use of open data from governmental sources allows enhanced transparency and the discovery of affecting variables while observing innovation adoption in the public administration. Originality/value The presence of normative instructions and their adoption rate is rarely measured in the Brazilian public administration.