Regional Governance and Institutional Collective Action for Environmental Sustainability

• Date: 01 July 2018
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12799

556 Public Administration Review • July | August 2018

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 78, Iss. 4, pp. 556–566. © 2017 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12799.

Research Article

Ruowen Shen is a PhD student in the

Askew School of Public Administration

and Policy at Florida State University. Her

research interests include local governance,

intergovernmental relations, network

analysis, and urban sustainability.

E-mail: rs13r@my.fsu.edu

Liming Suo is professor in the School of

Political Science and Public Administration,

University of Electronic Science and

Technology of China. His research interests

focus on interlocal collaboration, network

governance, and intergovernmental relations.

E-mail: dinastysuo@126.com

Hongtao Yi is assistant professor in the

John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The

Ohio State University. His research focuses

on policy process, energy and environmental

policy, and local governance.

E-mail: yi.201@osu.edu

Abstract : This research investigates why various mechanisms of cooperation among local authorities are chosen using

the theoretical lens of institutional collective action ( ICA ). The article analyzes 564 local collaboration agreements

drawn from four urban regions of China to explain the choices of environmental collaboration agreements among

cities. Examples of three forms of interlocal agreements—informal, formal, and imposed agreements—are analyzed.

Ordinal logistic regressions are estimated to test which factors predicted by the ICA framework influence the form of

collaboration selected. The results indicate that the involvement of national or provincial government, the number of

policy actors involved, heterogeneity of economic conditions, and differences in administrative level among the actors

involved influence how collaboration agreements are structured. Examining the choice of agreement type contributes to

the understanding of interlocal collaboration and provides practical insights for public managers to structure interlocal

collaboration.

Evidence for Practice

• Informal, formal, and imposed agreements are available to public managers seeking to address regional

problems.

• Local managers should be attentive to local economic conditions and characteristics of policy actors in

choosing specific types of agreements.

• The number of policy actors involved is an important consideration in deciding on agreement type.

Hongtao Yi

The Ohio State University

Liming Suo

University of Electronic Science and

Technology of China, China

Ruowen Shen

Jiasheng Zhang

Florida State University

Anu Ramaswami

University of Minnesota

Richard C. Feiock

Florida State University

Regional Governance and Institutional Collective Action for

Environmental Sustainability

F ragmentation issues pose significant challenges

for local governments in effectively managing

their environment. Policy spillovers across

jurisdictions force local governments to look beyond

policy designs that target a single jurisdiction and seek

collaborations with neighboring jurisdictions (Feiock

and Scholz 2010 ). Regional collaborations are typically

institutionalized through interjurisdictional agreements

(IJAs), which vary from informal meetings to formal

agreements to imposed authorities. Extant research

applies several methodological approaches to the study

of IJA adoption (Andrew et al. 2015 ; Zeemering 2008 ),

but no study to date has treated the IJA as the unit of

analysis in accounting for variation in agreement form.

To fill this lacuna, we ask why local governments choose

certain types of interlocal agreements. We conceptualize

the choice of IJA type as a multiactor bargaining game

in which policy actors bargain over transaction costs.

IJA choices are examined in China, where local

governments engage in IJAs to address numerous

regional governance issues (Chen, Suo, and Ma 2015 ),

especially in the area of environmental protection

(Wu et al. 2016 ; Yi and Liu 2015 ). Until recently,

there has been limited theoretical attention to the

possible roles that decentralized, self-organizing

mechanisms for regional governance might play in

China. In particular, the role of voluntary agreements

as solutions to collective action dilemmas that might

integrate local environmental decisions has not

received sufficient attention.

This extension of the institutional collective action

(ICA) framework (Feiock 2009 , 2013 ; Feiock and

Scholz 2010 ) accounts for IJA forms in terms of the

transaction costs and collaboration risks associated

with centralization and decentralization of governance.

Drawing on examples from four regions in China,

we apply this framework to classify urban integration

institutions based on the type of integration

mechanism (social embeddedness, contracts, or

political authority). We derive propositions rooted

in economic, environmental, and institutional

differences among cities to explain patterns of regional

governance. Using the IJA as the unit of analysis,

we examine the determinants of collaboration forms

among government entities across different levels of

government to solve regional environmental collective

action problems. Based on a content analysis of

media reports, the empirical analyses investigate

Jiasheng Zhang is a PhD candidate in

the Askew School of Public Administration

and Public Policy at Florida State University.

His research focuses on municipal

governance, environmental policy, and

collaboration in the United States and China.

E-mail: jz13j@my.fsu.edu

Anu Ramaswami is the Charles M.

Denny, Jr., Chair Professor of Science,

Technology, and Public Policy in the

Humphrey School of Public Affairs at

University of Minnesota. Her research

interests include energy and environment,

industrial ecology, science and technology,

and sustainable development.

E-mail: anu@umn.edu

Richard C. Feiock holds the Collins

Eminent Scholar Chair and is professor of

public administration and policy at Florida State

University. His work focuses on local institutions,

networks, governance, and sustainability.

E-mail: rfeiock@fsu.edu