Collaborative networks and environmental governance performance: a social influence model

ABSTRACT

This study aims to answer the following research question: how do collaborative networks affect the performance of individual policy actors embedded in the network? We examine this question with a unique dataset on water governance in Dongguan city, China. We hypothesize that collaborative network affects the environmental performance of policy actors through a social influence mechanism, and that the performance of an ego actor will emulate that of alters in the network. We test this hypothesis by estimating network/spatial autoregressive models, and the results confirm the presence of a social influence effect.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative networks
• governance networks
• network performance
• governance performance
• environmental policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Project 2662018QD034].

Notes on contributors

Chen Huang

Chen Huang is a lecturer in the College of Public Administration at Huazhong Agricultural University. Her research focuses on environmental governance, policy network, and collaborative governance.

Wenna Chen

Wenna Chen is a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Policy at City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include policy diffusion, public sector innovation, and leadership turnover.

Hongtao Yi

Hongtao Yi is associate professor in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on network governance, collaborative governance, policy process, and energy and environmental policy.