Since the early 1990s, public networks have been implemented in many countries to solve 'wicked' public problems, addressing such issues as health, social care, local development and education. While considerable research has been carried out into public networks, both managers and scholars are left with some doubts about network effectiveness. In fact literature on this topic has been highly fragmented, comprising a plurality of definitions, multiple theories, multiple methods and multiple explanations. This paper aims to review and classify previous theoretical and evidence-based studies on network effectiveness and its determinants. Our aim is to rearrange existing literature into a unitary framework in order to shed light on both hitherto unfilled gaps and established theoretical cornerstones.

Many studies have striven to understand which factors affect the performance of public networks. However, there are very few studies in the field of public management that investigate the joint, interactive effects of different determinants on network performance. This article uses the relatively new method of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to investigate the complex causality of determinants and network performance. It examines the combination of resource munificence, centralization of the network structure, formalization of coordination mechanisms, network management and their joint effects on network performance. An analysis of 12 Swiss networks providing home and social care services shows that there are a range of possible paths. Various combinations of the above-mentioned factors can in fact lead to high network performance. The paths provide insight into how to make public networks really work. INTRODUCTIONEver since Provan and Milward (1995) published their seminal article on four public mental health care networks in the US, scholars in the field of public management have tried to assess whether public networks really work and which determinants affect their performance. There have been increasing efforts by scholars to shed light on a plethora of factors that affect network performance (for a review see Turrini et al. 2010, among others), but they have rarely investigated the possibility of these factors having a combined effect on network success (Turrini et al. 2010;Raab et al. 2015;Verweij et al. 2013).Exploring this aspect is the aim of this article. In particular, we are interested in the way in which four of the predictors of public network performance identified by previous studies (Provan and Milward 1995;Kickert et al. 1997;Agranoff and McGuire 2003; Provan and Kenis 2009) combine to give high network performance. These predictors are resource munificence, centralization of the network structure, formalization of coordination mechanisms and network management.The configurational approach of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA, Ragin 1987) was chosen in order to conduct a systematic comparison of 12 home care networks in Switzerland (along with the above-mentioned factors and their performance) and identify the different paths that lead to network success.The article is divided into four parts. The first section reviews the relevant literature for our research and outlines the theoretical background on which the research design was based. Different determinants of public network performance have been extracted and operationalized along with the performance measurement criteria. In the next section, there is a presentation of the method applied (qualitative comparative analysis) and the empirical setting, along with details of the case selection and data collection processes. The third section contains a summary of the findings. The QCA follows an iterative approach and constantly goes back and forth between empirical cases, theories and the actual results, so the findings will be inte...

Despite a general consensus on the importance of collaborative settings for the solution of 'wicked' problems, questions of how to successfully manage public networks remain without a clear answer. Some authors highlighted the importance of the network structure and context; other authors shed light on network management and coordination mechanisms. More recently, some scholars have stressed the criticality of 'soft' factors, such as interorganizational trust. In this multifaceted landscape, the goal of the special issue is to stimulate a dialogue on the functioning of public networks, and contribute to the development of sound knowledge about how to make them succeed.

This paper compares four cases and explores the effects on network performance of network governance, coordination mechanisms, and the abilities of the network manager. The focus is on shared-governance networks, which are in general considered to have difficulties achieving high-level performances. The cross-case comparison suggests a relationship between coordination mechanisms and the way shared-governance networks are managed: in order to be successful, they must be able to rely on formalized mechanisms and make a pool of ''network administrators'' responsible for their governance.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms adopted by cities to control the provision of externalized public services and to explore the determinants of such control choices. Design/methodology/approach -The paper presents the results of a multiple case study based on the experiences of three cities and three public services (transport, solid waste collection and home care services for the elderly), where control mechanisms and their possible antecedents were analyzed. Findings -The results show that the control models found in the cases analyzed do not correspond to the "pure" patterns described in the private sector literature and that the factors identified by management control contributions do not seem to be exhaustive in explaining the configuration of control systems in the public sector. While environmental and task characteristics only partially explain the adoption of certain configurations of control, the features of the control systems seem to be rather influenced by variables that are related to party characteristics. Originality/value -The paper shows that the combinations of control mechanisms are more multifaceted than those presented in the literature, and that the factors identified in the private sector literature do not seem to explain comprehensively the configuration of control systems in the public sector.