ABSTRACT
Contractual networking and intergovernmental collaboration have become increasingly prevalent in public organizations due, in part, to a rise in new public management (NPM) principles and practices that assert market-based systems and exchanges will result in greater flexibility and accountability, increased performance, and a client-driven orientation within public organizations (Collins 2006; Kettl 1995, 2002; LeRoux 2007; Milward 1996; Wikstrom 2002). Yet the benefits of contracting and collaboration are often contingent on other factors, such as cooperation, trust, management capacity, mission alignment, the type of good or service considered, and the actual form of the agreement (Bennett and Ferlie 1996; Hefetz and Warner 2004, 2007; LeRoux 2007; Prager 1994; Van Slyke 2003; Wessel 1995).
