Street level divergence in the functioning of social welfare networks

Abstract

Much effort has been devoted to the evaluation of network effectiveness. Recent scholarship has made an important distinction between network outcomes or productivity and the underlying dynamics or processes that ultimately shape the nature of such joint actions. This article is interested in the process side of this effectiveness equation and, more specifically, in the possibility of process-related divergence at the street level. What if, due to such divergence, networks are not functioning as expected by participants at the managerial level of networks? What are the potential implications of such a mismatch? And, how might this complicate efforts to assess the process and productivity sides of the network effectiveness equation?