A comparatively new form of entrepreneurial leadership seems to be local branding as a means of enhancing socio-economic growth and increase of population. My research question is: could this form of public local branding point to new forms of entrepreneurship, if so, which are the main factors for a change, and with which results? The study is a comparative Nordic intermunicipal research of the Norwegian local communities Steinkjer and Sortland, as well as Icelandic Akureyri and Swedish Sollefteå as for comparative leadership, means and ends of entrepreneurial activities in the beginning of the millennium. Corresponding theoretical background is to be found in Schumpeter, Schneider & Teske, Bjerke, Johannisson for local entrepreneurial development, and in Veggeland, Boter, Granovetter, Wolvén and Nyhlén for entrepreneurial leadership and policy-making. Last, but not least, the study aims at a comparison of entrepreneurial leadership in the public and private sector.
