Marginal Innovation Under Multiple Institutional Logics: A Historical Case Study of the Establishment of an Administrative Service Center in China

ABSTRACT How do public sector innovations emerge and evolve under competing institutional logics? This study answers this question through a historical case study of the establishment of the Administrative Service Center (ASC) in Jiangmen, China. Drawing on institutional logics theory and Lakatos's “hard core–protective belt” heuristic, we propose the concept of “marginal innovation” to explain adaptations that occur at the periphery of power structures. Marginal innovation operates through a dual spatial mechanism: it positions reform in the intangible institutional periphery of core authority, while often employing tangible spatial arrangements—such as physical centralization—as a primary means of implementation. Based on archival analysis and interviews, our analysis reveals that the ASC exemplifies the interplay of three distinct institutional logics: market efficiency, political legitimacy, and bureaucratic control. The ASC achieves physical concentration in service delivery while maintaining distributed approval authority, allowing reform to generate early legitimacy without disrupting the “hard core.” This study advances prior research by theorizing how spatial strategies at organizational margins—distinct from incremental innovation—reconcile competing logics without disrupting foundational authority, thereby enriching typologies of public sector innovation and offering insights for navigating institutional complexity in innovation contexts.