There Is No Rose Without a Thorn: Examining the Contribution of Collaborative Platforms to Sustaining Collaborative Governance

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which collaborative platforms contribute to strengthening the collaborative governance capacity of municipal governments, focusing on smart city development as an empirical context. Drawing on survey data from 289 municipal government officials and using a multinomial logit model, we test eight hypotheses linking collaborative platforms to key dimensions of collaborative governance: knowledge sharing, innovation culture, competences, strategic orientation, monitoring, vertical and internal coordination, and decision-making power. Our findings challenge the prevailing assumption that such platforms are uniformly beneficial. While their presence might support some collaborative governance dimensions, their contribution is less certain in others. Moreover, in some cases, our data shows that municipalities managing collaborative governance initiatives by means of a collaborative platform might perform just as well or even worse than those without one. These results suggest that expectations about collaborative platforms should be more carefully calibrated. By critically examining the contribution of collaborative platforms across key dimensions of collaborative governance, this study advances theoretical understanding and offers actionable insights for municipal platform managers and policymakers.