Governing Diversity: The Impact of Social Heterogeneity on Human Service Delivery

Abstract

The social environment in which government is embedded has wide implications for public administration. The increasing social heterogeneity in the United States poses various puzzles for the governance structure in public human service programs. Apart from major political and policy changes, contracting out service delivery is considered to be a more appropriate managerial response. Therefore, social heterogeneity in a jurisdiction would be positively associated with the use of contractual networks in service delivery. Using data from a national survey of human service contracting, this study finds that states with higher degrees of social heterogeneity use service contractual networks more often. This further highlights the imperative of capacity building for public administrators when using contractual networks.

Critical Applications of Heterogeneity Theories to Power in Nonprofit Human Services Organizations

“…The heterogeneity effect is at least partially supported by some research specifically focused on nonprofit human services (see, for example, Corbin, 1999;James, 1987;Joassart-Marcelli, 2013;Joassart-Marcelli & Wolch, 2003;M. Kim, 2015;Lu, 2016;Van Puyvelde & Brown, 2016). It is important to consider how this dynamic plays out in nondemocratic contexts, but research suggests that the relationship between population heterogeneity and nonprofit sector size holds true across a number of countries (James, 1993;S.…”

Factors Influencing the Size of Non-Profit Sector: An Empirical Study

“…Weisbrod'un heterojenite teorisi birçok araştırmacı tarafından tartışılmıştır. Corbin (1999), Lu (2016) ve Matsunaga vd. (2010); Weisbrod'un hipotezini desteklemişlerdir.…”

To Have Versus To Have Not: A Cross-City Configurational Analysis of Social Service Contracting

“…According to Garrow (2014) study of human service nonprofits in Los Angeles, nonprofits located in neighborhoods with higher percentages of minority residents and greater poverty rates receive more government funding for service delivery. Lu (2016) reported U.S. states with higher degrees of population heterogeneity (across multiple demographic dimensions such as race, income level, and employment status) tend to use contractual networks with nonprofits more often. In sum, we posit: a jurisdiction with a more diverse population is more likely to have larger-scale government-nonprofit contracting .…”

“… 1. Studies employing regression analysis typically estimate the marginal effects of single demand- or supply-side factors on the level or likelihood of government contracting-out, holding other factors constant. For example, Lu (2016) suggested that governments are more likely to contract-out when service demand is high, ceteris paribus, Ni and Bretschneider (2007) concluded that governments are less likely to contract-out when market competition is low, ceteris paribus, and Brudney et al (2005) noted governments under great financial stress are more inclined to contract-out, ceteris paribus. However, these studies could not explain how the combinations of these factors shape contracting-out decisions, namely, what if governments face high service demand, low market competition, and great financial stress?…”