Administrators’ and Elected Officials’ Collaboration Networks: Selecting Partners to Reduce Risk in Economic Development

Abstract

Networks play an important role in collaboration, but previous work has not examined the different roles of elected and appointed officials in these networks. This article investigates local economic development policy networks to address (1) the extent to which the structure of relationships reflects the efforts of actors to efficiently collect and process information or to enhance credible commitment; (2) the extent to which differences in incentives and risk aversion lead to differences in politicians’ and administrators’ networks; and (3) how similarities and differences between local governments affect their network relationships. Exponential random graph analysis of local governments in the Orlando, Florida, metropolitan area demonstrate that local government actors forge tightly clustered networks, consistent with the desire to address commitment problems. Although administrators have more expansive networks, there is little evidence of differences in network patterns for administrators and elected officials. Similarity of economic problems and differences in population also promotes collaboration. These findings are linked to the competitive nature of economic development.

Inter-Organisational Coordination for Sustainable Local Governance: Public Safety Management in Poland

“…In our opinion the notion of collaboration is broader than coordination, which is consistent with the analyses conducted by Arthur T. Himmelman [10]. We also adapted the opinion of Richard C. Feiock, In Won Lee, and Hyung Jun Park [11] and we believe that coordination and collaboration are not points on a simple scale of service integration, but differ in their forms and structure.Starting from Fayol's understanding of coordination, we reinforce this notion as one of the key factors of collaboration. In our deliberations we also claim that in our research the context of realisation of actions is of significant importance, since the mechanism of coordination, which regulate the ways of effective collaboration, result from it [101].…”

“…According to Arthur T. Himmelman, this collaboration includes exchange of information that is favourable to all parties (networking), with altering of activities (coordinating) and sharing of resources (cooperating) [10]. A similar perspective is presented by Richard C. Feiock, In Won Lee, and Hyung Jun Park who claim that coordination is a vital instrument of managing networks [11]. On the other hand Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Pavel Zhelyazkov treat coordination as one of two indispensable facets of inter-organisational collaboration [12].…”

Polycentricity and the Hollow State: Exploring Shared Personnel as a Source of Connectivity in Fragmented Urban Systems

“…First, most existing empirical EoG studies have tended to assume that individuals participate in governance networks on behalf of a single organization (e.g., Berardo & Scholz, ; Lubell et al, ). Even studies that explicitly call out networking by individual elected officials and administrators have focused on reported connections between these individuals and other organizations (Feiock, Lee, & Park, ) . By studying special districts that have overlapping personnel, we are broadening the scope of the EoG framework to include additional layers of governance network complexity—namely: (i) individuals acting on behalf of multiple organizations; and (ii) interorganizational network ties that vary on the basis of individual organizational members, so that organizations can be connected in different ways through different members.…”

Regional Partnerships and Metropolitan Economic Development

“…Economic development is typically characterized by a competitive, rather than cooperative, environment; communities compete with each other to attract firms and the income and tax base that new business generates (Peterson, ; Schneider, Teske, & Mintrom, ; Steinacker, ). This zero‐sum competition makes regional cooperation difficult, but it also creates the potential for substantial economic gain if cooperative action can be sustained (Feiock, Lee, & Park, ).…”