網絡觀點下的跨地方服務協議：檢視影響地方行動者之網絡連結的關鍵因素

Abstract

當代治理的結構，已經從層級節制轉向為網絡連結，且有愈加明顯的現象。晚近，這股協力的浪潮開始從公私合夥，慢慢地吹向公共組織之間及其與利害關係人的通力合作。在這樣的趨勢之下，讓公共協力的研究漸趨多元，而透過跨地方服務協議的機制，作為公共服務提供的方式，也逐漸地受到重視。然而，在行動者各自擁有不同的目標與偏好的前提之下，如何提高協力的成果並減少非預期的結果，便成為實踐公共協力的首要之務，尤其是在資訊不對稱及專業不對稱的情境中，（1）地方行動者如何選擇合適的協力夥伴，以發揮一加一大於二綜效；以及（2）所選定之協力夥伴的特定作為，是否會影響地方行動者的行為，均是攸關跨地方服務協議能否成功的關鍵，而成為必須面對的管理議題。\n\n不過，如欲掌握隱藏在協議締結背後，行動者的多元連結已非易事，更遑論要分析並理解行動者的複雜互動。所幸，在網絡關係理論及社會網絡分析的輔助下，使得網絡結構的概念漸趨成熟，無論是在理論建構、概念測量及分析技術等層面都有豐碩的成果，而被廣泛地應用於不同的研究主題，將有助於檢視跨地方服務協議中行動者之間的互動模式及其成因。因之，本研究奠基於既有跨地方服務協議的實證研究，並從不同網絡關係理論中汲取養分，嘗試提出一個整合性的分析架構，用以檢視跨地方服務協議之網絡結構（分為純結構、行動者-屬性及網絡-屬性等效果）對網絡連結（又細分為協力關係建立及協議參與程度）的影響，同時，探討在不同的系絡因素（即三種公共服務類型）之協力網絡中，網絡結構與網絡連結之間的關係會是否有所差異，藉此說明在協力賽局中，地方行動者在協力關係建立及協議參與程度等行動的策略與邏輯。\n\n爰此，本研究以Iowa 28E Agreement資料庫中的跨地方服務協議作為分析對象，一方面，應用各種社會網絡分析的指標，描繪跨地方服務協議之協力網絡的輪廓與底蘊；另一方面，透過不同的指數隨機圖模型，梳理在各類型的公共服務網絡中，網絡結構對於協力關係建立及協議參與程度的影響。結果顯示，在不同公共服務類型的協力網絡中，各種網絡結構對於網絡連結的影響並不一致，代表公共服務類型對於網絡結構與網絡連結之間的關係，具有相當程度的調解效果。其中，純結構之網絡組態對於協力關係建立的影響，其效果在準公共財的協力網絡中最為明顯；而行動者-屬性之網絡組態對於協力關係建立的影響，以及網絡-屬性之網絡組態對於協議參與程度的影響，其效果則是在純公共財的協力網絡中最為明顯。相關成果均可以作為後續研究精進與未來實務推動之參考。

Contemporary governance structure has shifted from hierarchical to heterarchy. This wave of change has gradually shifted from public-private partnerships to collaboration between public organizations, and collaboration between public organizations and stakeholders. In response to these changes, the research on public collaboration has diversified. More attention has also been given to the importance of the model of interlocal service agreements (ISAs). However, under the premise that the actors in the network usually have different goals and preferences, how to improve the results of the collaboration and reduce the unintended results becomes the priority in the practice of public collaboration. This is especially important in the scenario of information asymmetry and professional asymmetry, (1) how the local actors choose their suitable partners to achieve the synergy of collaboration, and (2) whether their partners’ behaviors affect the local actors’ behaviors or not are the key factors to the success of executing the interlocal service agreements.\n\nIt is not easy to grasp the connections between actors in the network, let alone analyze and understand the interactions between actors. Fortunately, with the assistance of the network relationship theory and social network analysis (SNA), the concept of network structure has gradually matured. As a result, network structure has achieved fruitful results in theoretical construction, conceptual measurement, and analysis techniques, and has been widely used in different research topics. Network structure provides the theoretical framework and analytical tools for examining the interaction patterns between actors in the network of interlocal service agreements and revealing the reasons for their actions. Therefore, this research organized past empirical studies of interlocal service agreements and different network relationship theories. It then attempts to propose an integrated analysis framework for examining the relationship between network structure (i.e. purely structural effects, actor-relation effects, and network-attribute effects) and network connection (i.e. formation of collaborative ties and degree of agreement participation) in the network of interlocal service agreements. We also compared the relationship between network structure and network connection in the three types of public service pattern networks.\n\nAccordingly, this research used the interlocal service agreements in the Iowa 28E Agreement database as the object of analysis. On the one hand, various indicators of social network analysis were applied to describe the outline and details of the collaborative network of interlocal service agreements. On the other hand, different exponential random graph models were conducted to identify the relationships between network structure, formation of collaborative ties, and degree of agreement participation in the diverse networks of public service patterns. The results show that the relationships between network structure and network connection in distinct networks of public service patterns are not consistent. This indicates that public service patterns have a considerable degree of mediation effect on the relationship between network structure and network connection. More specifically, purely structural effects have more influence on the formation of collaborative ties in the network of quasi-public goods. Whereas, actor-relation effects have more influence on the formation of collaborative ties in the network of public goods. Finally, network-attribute effects have more influence on the formation of collaborative ties in the network of public goods. The results from this research provide significant insights into the reality of public collaboration. These insights could contribute to future academic research and assist practitioners in real-world scenarios.