The influencing factors of multi-agency collaboration effectiveness in risk communication of large-scale projects in China

As public problems have become more and more complex, network governance is increasingly used as a common way to deal with these so called “wicked problems”, especially in risk communication area. Risk communication is an... [ view full abstract ]

As public problems have become more and more complex, network governance is increasingly used as a common way to deal with these so called “wicked problems”, especially in risk communication area. Risk communication is an important way to prevent the conflicts induced by the potential risks associated to construction projects, which works by creating consensus and collective action through dialogue and negotiation among diverse stakeholders. The key of this process is to build a collaborative network to achieve collaboration. However, the existing studies are generally focused on communication modes and strategies, few paid attentions to the collaboration of multiple actors. By using Grounded Theory and Structural Equation Model (SEM) method, this article aims to investigate which factors affect collaboration effectiveness and how they affect it. An analysis of large-scale construction projects in China shows that nature of project, characteristics of actors and their relationship quality are key factors that have a significant impact on collaboration effectiveness by different paths, and relationship quality plays a meditate role among them. This article contributes to the literature by providing some insights of studies on the nature of the relationship between risk communication progress and outcome, collaboration mechanism in risk communication, and regional risk conflict management from perspectives of network governance.