Interagency Collaboration in China: A Cross-Case Study on Collaborative Performance among Local Agencies

This study investigates what factors influence the performance of interagency collaboration that is measured by the degrees along a continuum of interagency relationships ranging from cooperation and coordination to... [ view full abstract ]

This study investigates what factors influence the performance of interagency collaboration that is measured by the degrees along a continuum of interagency relationships ranging from cooperation and coordination to collaboration. Systematically scanning on collaborative governance literature, this study distills seven factors conditioning collaborative performance: prior policies and legal framework, bureaucratic ethos (and organizational culture, SOPs), saliency of policy problem, trust level, perceived interdependence, horizontal and vertical meta-governance. While these factors clearly stand out, it is unclear how the presence of any of these factors leads to varying degrees of collaborative performance. To explore this question, three different cases of interagency collaboration at the local level in Liaoning, China, are examined. Knowle of the processes by which interagency collaboration is carried out in the Chinese public sector are only beginning to develop. The results of the case studies show that the overall situation of interagency collaboration in Liaoning is unsatisfactory: two cases developing from absence of collaboration to coordination and one case holding absence of collaboration all the way. The findings of this study also suggest that strong vertical meta-governance, high saliency of policy problem and high perceived interdependence are enablers for higher level of collaborative performance; while the prior policies, bureaucratic ethos, trust and horizontal meta-governance, which are something latent in the Chinese administrative context, often present as barriers for collaboration.

Keywords: interagency collaboration, collaborative performance, coordination, cooperation, China