How does policy mix credibility affect citizen participation? Evidence from pilot of household waste sorting policy

ABSTRACT

A burgeoning collaborative government-citizen public service delivery mode is hindered by insufficient policy mix credibility for boosting citizen participation. One reason is the unclear understanding of systematic pathways linking policy mix credibility and citizen participation. This article focuses on the relationship between policy mix credibility and citizen participation behavior based on the policy feedback theory. It also introduces citizen participation willingness as a mediator, and ICT tool functionality as moderators to further understand their boundary effects. Using a panel data from four follow-up surveys during the waste sorting policy pilot in Chongqing, China, and employing the difference-in-difference method, we found that policy mix credibility influences citizen participation behavior through citizen participation willingness. And the translation of willingness into actual participation action depends on policy resources represented by the ICT tool functionality. The findings solve the theoretical perplexity about the role of policy mix credibility in citizen participation in public service provision and provide new ideas for mobilizing it.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy mix credibility
• citizen participation
• public service provision
• quasi-experiment
• moderated mediation effect

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 In Stata, the command “sem (m < – x)(y < – m x w mw)” introduces the structural equation model (SEM). In this model, “x” represents the independent variable, “m” represents the mediating variable, “w” represents the moderating variable, “mw” represents the interaction term between the mediation and moderation variables, and “y” represents the dependent variable. This command is suitable for situations where the moderation variable moderates the paths between the mediation variable and the dependent variable.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 72134002], National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number T2261129477], National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 72374007], Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Grant Number 2022CDSKXYGG006].

Notes on contributors

Bingsheng Liu

Bingsheng Liu, Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China, 400044. He is also a Professor of Hebei University of Technology. His research interests are public policy analysis, and inter-organizational relationship. His recent articles have been published in journals such as "Public Management Review" and "Public Performance & Management Review". Email: [email protected]

Fadong Zhang

Fadong Zhang, PhD Candidate, School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China, 400044. His Research interests are public policy analysis, and inter-organizational relationship. Email: [email protected].

Bin Xue

Bin Xue, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China, 400044. His research interests are sustainable development, and inter-organizational relationship. His recent articles have been published in journals such as "Sustainable Development" and "Public Performance & Management Review". Email: [email protected]