RESEARCH

Choi, Y. J., Kim, S., & Sullivan, A. (2025). Capitalization of social service nonprofit activities: homeless service provider openings and home values. Public Management Review. 

Non-profit service providers often face local opposition due to dispersed social benefits, but concentrated costs. Using nationwide U.S. data, we find opening a non-profit homeless service provider is capitalized into home values in the surrounding zip code, increasing values by 1.2%, using a difference-in-differences design, comparing zip codes that open their first provider to neighbouring zip codes without one. The relationship is even stronger in certain cases: home values increase by 2.2% for larger services, 2.6% when serving a more sympathetic population, and 3.1% in neighbourhoods with a lower share of non-Hispanic white residents.

Kim, S. & Sullivan, A. (2024). The effect of merging mandated collaborations on performance in homeless services. Public Management Review. 

Mandated collaboration forces a tension, where organizations must work together to create a strong collaboration while pursuing their organizational missions. Merging these mandated collaborations can increase collaboration but at the cost of local responsiveness. We ask whether merging mandated collaborations improves performance at the community, collaboration, and organization levels in the case of homeless services. We find merging CoCs did not significantly decrease homelessness or increase service provision, although collaboration increased. Additionally, chronic homelessness increased by an average of 30%. Our findings suggest merging mandated collaborations differentially affects performance depending on the level examined.

Sullivan, A., Yeo, J., & Kim, S. (2024). Am I My Brothers’ Keeper? A Critical Review of Mandated Collaboration Research. American Review of Public Administration. 

To synthesize and examine the growing literature on mandated collaboration, we conducted a critical literature review of the growing literature on mandated collaboration, asking what the field of public administration knows about its purposes, mechanisms, contexts, and performances. Mandated collaboration occurs when a third party requires and enforces collaboration among other potential collaborators. We find four takeaways: (a) mandators require collaboration to address complex problems; (b) mandators enforce collaboration through hierarchical authority and market-based incentives; (c) mandated collaboration occurs across several policy contexts; and (d) the context surrounding the collaboration affects its success. We conclude with three unknowns, regarding how mandated collaboration achieves policy goals, if mandators are collaborators, and the willingness of participants required to collaborate. Our review enhances public administration's understanding of collaborative governance by offering insight into the governance tool of mandating collaboration, contexts under which it succeeds, and steps for future research. 

Kim, S. (2023). Nonprofit Revenue Strategy and Downside Risk: Applying Portfolio Theory and Extreme Value Theory. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 53(4), 948-973.

The risk of revenue instability is a concern for any nonprofit. Existing research leads to the well-known strategy of equalizing revenues across sources to reduce revenue volatility. This study offers several expansions to this strategy. First, rather than focus solely on deviations from mean revenue, I incorporate extreme revenue loss, or downside risk, as it threatens organizational survival and occurs more frequently than expected. Second, whereas revenue equalization is indifferent to type of revenue source, I incorporate portfolio diversification which seeks a negative correlation between sources to avoid simultaneous losses. Using 2008-2012 financial data, results of fixed-effects regression suggest that portfolio diversification can reduce revenue volatility and downside risk. Moreover, the relationships between financial flexibility, growth potential, and revenue risk are more nuanced compared to existing research focused solely on deviation risk. The results can help nonprofits consider incorporating downside risk in revenue portfolio management to enhance financial security. 

Kim, S., Kwak, H., Nwakpuda, E., Sullivan, A., & Fenley, V. (2023). Social Equity for Wicked Problems: Achieving Racial Equity in Homeless Service Provision, Public Management Review, DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2023.2246969

Public management should not be divorced from social equity when solving wicked problems. Although classic public management theory focuses on organizational practices in a formulaic manner, organizations must improve equity while fulfilling their mission within a given environment where social inequity is prevalent. Forging connections between public management and social equity, we develop the Social Equity for Wicked Problems (SEWP) framework. We exemplify SEWP by applying a mixed-methods analysis to the wicked problem of racial disparities in homelessness. The SEWP framework can help communities respond to systemic inequality and create equitable solutions when implementing policy to respond to wicked problems. 

Kim, S. & Sullivan, A. (2023). Connecting the Composition of Collaborative Governance Structure to Community-Level Performance in Homeless Services. Public Administration Review. 

Top 10 most-cited papers published by the journal in 2023

Read the blog post about the article featured at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Collaborative governance has become prevalent in public service provision as both government and nonprofit sectors face pressure to solve multidimensional social problems in communities while improving performance. Drawing on collaborative governance and homeless services literature, this article explores how providing services in a collaborative governance network through government and nonprofit service providers differentially relates to multiple dimensions of performance — effectiveness, internal efficiency, social efficiency, and service heterogeneity — at the community level. By using a two-way fixed effects estimator and a unique nonprofit and homeless services dataset, the findings indicate that collaborative governance between government-nonprofit service providers relates to increased effectiveness (e.g., homelessness), and mixed results for service heterogeneity relative to using one sector. The composition of collaborative governance networks matters for performance, but its precise relationship with community-level performance depends on the specific aspect of performance.

Evidence for Practice

• The composition of collaborative governance networks matters for performance, but its precise relationship with community-level performance depends on the specific aspect of performance.

• Joint government-nonprofit service delivery relates to increased effectiveness–less homelessness.

• Providing homeless services through both government and nonprofit sectors relates with increased beds for victims of domestic violence.

Sullivan, A., Kim, S., & Lee, D. (2023). Applying organizational density to local public service performance: separating homeless service outcomes from outputs. Public Management Review, 25:2, 262-285.

What happens to local services’ performance when service-provider density increases in a community? The answer is difficult. To explore how density relates to multiple aspects of performance, this study aims to examine the effects of service-providers’ density on service outputs and policy outcomes. Using a panel dataset of local homeless service planning bodies, the Continuum of Care Programme, we found that service outputs improved; however, the prevalence of homelessness did not decrease. Drawing upon organizational density theory, our findings contribute to the extant knowledge on public management by exploring how service-provider density relates to service outputs and policy outcomes separately.

Kim, S., Sullivan, A., & Lee, D. (2022). Does Local Community Effort Relate to Neighbors' Homelessness? Cities, 127.

Interjurisdictional spillovers can compromise the effectiveness of homeless assistance policy and service provision, as individuals that become homeless in service deserts are forced to move to nearby communities that provide services they require. The resulting migration causes difficulties in accurately measuring the effectiveness of homeless assistance policies and hinders the establishment of measures aimed at ending homelessness at a regional level. The present investigation addresses these challenges by exploring how local community effort aided by government and nonprofit organizations relates to interjurisdictional outcomes. Our findings indicate that an increase in homeless services offered by nonprofit organizations in a community relates with fewer services (i.e., reduction in total beds per homeless person) and more homelessness in neighboring communities. Further, simultaneously increasing the number of both government and nonprofit organizations mitigates some of the negative spillovers. These findings augment the results yielded by previous research in this field, as they indicate that cross-sector collaboration can benefit the broader community and is more effective in reaching vulnerable populations and reducing homelessness than investing in government and nonprofit-led efforts executed independently.

Highlights

• Interjurisdictional spillovers can compromise the effectiveness of homeless assistance policy and service provision.

• The studied adopted a two-way fixed effects estimator and used Continuum of Care and National Center for Charitable Statistics data.

• An increase in homeless services offered by nonprofit organizations relates with fewer services and more homelessness in neighboring communities.

• Increasing the number of both government and nonprofit organizations mitigates some of the negative spillovers.

Kim, S. and Sullivan, A. A.  (2021). Complementary Policies for Complex Problems: Does the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Complement Homeless Services?, Urban Studies, 58(5): 903–921.

Governments use multiple policies targeting different severities of housing insecurity to address multidimensional urban problems like homelessness, where poverty and unaffordable housing intertwine with many causes and contexts. Previous studies have focused on the determinants of housing insecurity or using affordable housing alone but not on how using multiple policies jointly reduces homelessness. We explore if affordable housing created by the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) complements homeless services through the housing security network in decreasing homelessness in communities. Utilizing a first-differenced model with panel data from 2007 to 2015, results indicate that LIHTC unit developments complement homeless services in moderately reducing homelessness when both policies are used relative to only using homeless services. Studying multiple policies addressing homelessness creates a useful application of theory on complementary policies to see how affordable housing with homeless services affects homelessness at the community level.

Choi, Y. J., Kim, S., & Sullivan, A. (2025). Capitalization of social service nonprofit activities: homeless service provider openings and home values. Public Management Review, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2025.2460762 [PDF]

Saerim Kim & Andrew Sullivan (2024) The effect of merging mandated collaborations on performance in homeless services. Public Management Review. DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2024.2329222 [PDF]

Sullivan, A., Yeo, J., & Kim, S. (2024). Am I My Brothers’ Keeper? A Critical Review of Mandated Collaboration Research. American Review of Public Administration. (OnlineFirst). https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740241229989 [PDF]  

Kim, S. (2024). Nonprofit Revenue Strategy and Downside Risk: Applying Portfolio Theory and Extreme Value Theory. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 53(4), 948-973. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640231191792 [PDF]

Kim, S., Kwak, H., Nwakpuda, E., Sullivan, A., & Fenley, V. (2023). Social Equity for Wicked Problems: Achieving Racial Equity in Homeless Service Provision, Public Management Review, DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2023.2246969 [PDF]

Kim, S. & Sullivan, A. (2023). Connecting the Composition of Collaborative Governance Structure to Community-Level Performance in Homeless Services. Public Administration Review 83(4): 734-749. [PDF]

Sullivan, A. A., Kim, S., & Lee, D. (2023). Applying Organizational Density to Local Public Service Performance: Separating Homeless Service Outcomes from Outputs. Public Management Review, 25:2, 262-285. [PDF]

Kim, S., Sullivan, A., & Lee, D. (2022). Does Local Community Effort Relate to Neighbors' Homelessness? Cities, 127. [PDF]

Kim, S. & Sullivan, A. A. (2021). Complementary Policies for Multidimensional Problems: Does the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Complement Homeless Services in the United States? Urban Studies, 58(5): 903–921.  [PDF]

Denison, D. V. & Kim, S. (2019) Linking Practice and Classroom: Nonprofit Financial Management Curricula in MPA and MPP Programs. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 25(4), 457-474.  [PDF] "JPAE 2020 Outstanding Article Award" [PDF]

Jung, Y., Kim, S, & Lim, T. (2018) Risk Aversion and Sorting into Public Sector: Evidence from South Korea. Korean Journal of Public Administration, 56(1): 183–211. [PDF]

Kim, D., Hong, Y., & Kim, S. (2009). Sustainability of Transportation and System Thinking: Slowing Down the Rapidity of Total Entropy. Korean System Dynamics Review, 10(3): 5–23.

Kim, S. (2023). Cooperative Purchasing. Municipal Government Global Trends, 46. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration. 

Kim, S. (2023). Total Taxable Resources. Municipal Government Global Trends, 42. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2023). Local Government Finance and Accounting Global Report, Korea Local Finance Association.

Kim, S. (2022). Public Assistant Program. Municipal Government Global Trends, 41. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S (2022). Georgia Opportunity Zone Job Tax Credit Program. Municipal Government Global Trends, 37. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2022). Climate-Related Migration. Municipal Government Global Trends, 36. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.  

Kim, S. (2022). Georgia Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Municipal Government Global Trends, 35. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2022). Georgia Digital Government. Municipal Government Global Trends. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2022). State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. Municipal Government Global Trends, 32. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2021). Barcelona Superblocks. Municipal Government Global Trends, 29. Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Kim, S. (2021). Leadership Issue Brief: Maneuver Captain’s Career Course. Leadership Issue Brief, 9(9). National Leadership Research Center, Seoul National University, Korea.

Denison, D. V. & Kim, S. (2019). “Cash-less State Governments: Electronic Collections and Benefit Disbursements”. The Council of State Governments.

Kim, S. (2018). Three Essays on Financial Collaboration in the Government and Nonprofit Sectors (Doctoral dissertation). The University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

Poister, T. et al. (2012). “2012 Employee Survey: Statewide Result.” Georgia Department of Transportation & Georgia State University Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies.

Kim, D., Hong, Y., & Kim, S. (2011). The Limits of the Material World. In Korea System Dynamics Society and the Seoul Club Research Institute (Eds.), Beyond Broadcasting and Communication Convergence: A Challenge to a Green Planet and Converging Responses (pp. 20–45). Seoul: Sunhaksa.

Kim, D., Hong, Y., & Kim, S. (2010). An Analysis of the Scenario for Future IT Structure Development in the United States. In Korea System Dynamics Society and the Seoul Club Research Institute (Eds.), Study of Causal Loop and Simulation of Application and Future Information Telecommunication in the United States. Seoul: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

Kim, D., Hong, Y., & Kim, S. (2009). Diagnostic Research for the National Crisis in Low Carbon and Green Growth Generation. In Korea System Dynamics Society and the Seoul Club Research Institute (Eds.), Low Carbon Green Growth and IT 2030 Policy Design Study. Seoul: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).