The effectiveness of network administrative organizations in governing interjurisdictional natural resources

Abstract

Can network administrative organizations (NAOs) improve networks' ability to solve complex social and environmental problems? This is a classical question in collaborative governance. The public management literature examines collaborative outcomes at either the organization or the entire network level, but has not addressed “edge level” outcomes to evaluate structured interactions among network actors. Therefore, we investigate outcomes in an interjurisdictional area that reflect collaborative efforts between local governments. Recently, Guangdong Province in China enacted the River Chief System, an institutional reform that mandates the provincial government to establish an NAO to coordinate intercity rivers' management. To assess how well the reform has worked to reduce pollution, we employ the synthetic control method using monthly water quality data from 14 river monitoring sites in two neighboring cities. Our results indicate that the reform reduced the interjurisdictional river sites' pollution level effectively by 36% in the following year. This preliminary finding contributes to the collaborative governance theory and provides new evidence on whether the NAO model improves the shared outcomes between local governments.

Am I My Brothers’ Keeper? A Critical Review of Mandated Collaboration Research

“…For example, while Cain et al (2020), An and Tang (2023), and Liu and Tan (2022) analyze mandated collaboration in the water management sector in the United States, Cain et al (2020) criticize mandated collaboration by highlighting its adverse effect on the longevity of collaboration between different stakeholders. Yet, focusing on water quality as the major policy outcome of mandated collaboration, An and Tang (2023) and Liu and Tan (2022) suggest mandated collaboration to be effective. Based on our synthesis, mandated collaboration may lead to improved outputs or outcomes related to the policy relative to no collaboration, but at the cost of inefficient, ineffective, or inequitable processes.…”

“…However, according to the literature reviewed, the use of hierarchical and market enforcement mechanisms to mandate collaboration may come with a tradeoff between collaborators’ commitment and actions. Hierarchical enforcement can result in more committed collaborators as they have no choice but to participate (Bitterman & Koliba, 2020; Liu & Tan, 2022). Further, the mandated collaboration reorients collaborators’ goals to directly be in line with the mandator's goal by clearly defining the processes and interactions among collaborators.…”

“…As shown in Table 2, the government's efforts to enforce and organize collaboration among multiple agents and stakeholders have been prominent in the sectors and areas that require continuous maintenance of infrastructure and facilities to provide services to the public, such as public utilities (Iborra et al, 2018; Naveed & Azhar, 2022), water supply (An & Tang, 2023; Cain et al, 2020; Liu & Tan, 2022; Wang et al, 2016; Yoon et al, 2022), and health (Rodriguez et al, 2007; Uster et al, 2022; van Duijn et al, 2022; Willem & Lucidarme, 2014). In addition, collaboration has been mandated in areas that respond to the acute needs of particular groups of beneficiaries.…”

“…Other studies evaluated the worth of mandated collaboration by framing the quality or longevity of the relationship among collaborators. For example, while Cain et al (2020), An and Tang (2023), and Liu and Tan (2022) analyze mandated collaboration in the water management sector in the United States, Cain et al (2020) criticize mandated collaboration by highlighting its adverse effect on the longevity of collaboration between different stakeholders. Yet, focusing on water quality as the major policy outcome of mandated collaboration, An and Tang (2023) and Liu and Tan (2022) suggest mandated collaboration to be effective.…”

“…For instance, Network Administrative Organization (NAO) networks are highly centralized, with an external member serving as the coordinator of network activities, rather than one of the service providers (Klijn et al, 2020). This type of network is often initiated through legal obligations or reforms and is relevant for governments that need to introduce new policies and programs and control the involvement of others (Liu & Tan, 2022). However, an NAO network does not necessarily imply collaboration is mandated, although it is possible; we included studies in our review where the NAO network included mandated collaboration.…”