[TITLE REMOVED FOR A BLIND PEER-REVIEW]

with Travis Whetsell, Gordon Kingsley, Parker Hamilton, and Jeongyoon "Jane" Yang

June 2025. Under Review at Public Administration Review

Abstract: Recent scholarship on public sector inter-organizational networks focuses on those with a common purpose-orientation. So-called purpose-oriented networks (PONs) are defined by conscious affiliation of their members who share a common cause for collaboration. Despite the rapid expansion of public sector network research over the last three decades, theory development tends to focus on public service delivery. This article introduces public asset delivery as an alternative setting for PONs, expanding the applicability of theory to a broader variety of situations and contributing to a more comprehensive framework. The delivery of public assets poses unique challenges to the conceptualization of structures, processes, and outcomes that have been traditionally developed from the perspective of service delivery. First, using transportation infrastructure as an exemplar, we theorize asset delivery PONs by juxtaposing incongruous concepts from the context of service delivery, including 1) purpose orientation, 2) task structure, 3) network activation, 4) governance mode, and 5) risk management. Second, we further identify points of convergence between the two settings, including attention to 1) network-domain interaction, 2) network effectiveness, 3) complexity, and 4) publicness. By identifying key elements of tension and convergence between assets and services, this article enhances the depth and breadth of theory on the nascent topic of purpose-oriented networks as well as contributing to the broader development of theory on inter-organizational networks in the public sector.

[TITLE REMOVED FOR A BLIND PEER-REVIEW]

August 2025. Submitted to Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting and Transportation Research Record

Abstract: Despite the widespread assumption that alternative delivery methods unlock innovation by bundling multiple phases of a project into a single contract, there is a paucity of evidence supporting this hypothesis. Integrating multiple phases of a project opens more opportunities for innovation; however, introducing changes to the public owner’s baseline design can be a risky endeavor to the private partner, requiring entrepreneurial judgment. Understanding the mechanisms that incentivize private partners to add value to projects is therefore crucial for transportation agencies that increasingly rely on their private partners to search and implement innovations. Drawing insights at the nexus of engineering management and innovation and entrepreneurship, this study presents a theoretical explanation on what drives entrepreneurship among private partners. Results from fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on bids submitted for Georgia DOT’s design-build projects between 2017 and 2024 find that 1) contrary to a commonly held assumption, competition may not be as important in stimulating entrepreneurial behavior amongst private partners while 2) projects that are larger, complex, and utilize best value selection do yield entrepreneurial behavior. Overall, the study concludes that concerns over competition in large transportation projects might be exaggerated and suggest configurations that are effective at soliciting innovations.

Rubber Stamp by Design: Outsourcing Core Competencies and the Decline of Real Authority in Government

Abstract: This study analyzes how authority is allocated between a government and its consultants within an interorganizational network for the environmental review process of a large transportation project. Transaction cost economics suggests that the hollowing out of the state has resulted in a more efficient government that has retained core functions and outsourced peripheral ones. However, governments have been adapting to sustained political pressures to reduce their workforce by increasingly outsourcing core competencies such as project development. Theory predicts that governing such a task through contracts is a sub-optimal mode of organizing due to high transaction costs. The outcome has been the emergence of interorganizational networks governed by pseudo-hierarchies, which primarily rely on procedural legitimacy over meaningfully monitoring the work. Distinguishing inter-organizational correspondences that confer formal versus real authority, this study finds that while formal authority remains in the hands of government, the government and its consultants are structurally equivalent and are equally central in their real authority, suggesting a blurring of roles between public managers and their private partners. Drawing from expert interviews and project documents, this study analyzes the implications of such inter-organizational structure on a government’s capability to integrate a wide range of public values and raises concern that public organizations are at risk of becoming rubber stamp governments.

Governing Transformative Innovation Policy: A Policy Regime Approach

with Gordon Kingsley

June 2023. Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy

Social Enterprise Ecosystems Across the BRICS Emerging Economies

with Janelle Kerlin and Marcelo Dionisio

Who is Social Enterprise to Government? Two Tales of Social Enterprise Clusters in South Korea

with Sam Youl Lee and Yong Suk Jang

2021. Spin-off of Master's Thesis

After Stigma: Credence Qualities and Help-Seeking in Mental Health

with Sun Goo Lee

Prepare to Submit

Creating Public Value with Private Money? The Case of Police Foundations

with Jeongyoon "Jane" Yang and Jason Coupet

November 2024. ARNOVA / June 2024. PMRC / April 2024. ASPA

Dances with Wolves: Tensions in Managing Public Value in Public Private Partnerships

Innovating for Stability: The Role of Hierarchies in Network Management

June 2024. PMRC

Past Research