Decisions institutions, policy arenas, and inter-departmental collective action around urban sustainability

Abstract

The implementation of urban sustainability policy efforts often require collaboration across multiple semi-independent units within a single government organization. The settings where representatives from relevant units interact, provide a potential mechanism for mitigating functional collective action (FCA) challenges, yet little research has examined how different venues shape the collaborative behavior of administrative units within a single government entity. Using detailed unit-level data collected from Kansas City, Missouri's government, this paper advances research on intra-organizational collaboration by applying methods of network analysis to examine the role that different types of venues play in facilitating cross-departmental interaction and the resolution of FCA problems. Results suggest that co-participation in structured decision institutions and informal policy arenas are both associated with increases in units’ collaboration around sustainability initiatives. However, variation in the size and robustness of impact is evident across venues, providing initial insights for how they may be structured to maximize collaborative effect.