Creating public values through cross-sector collaboration: a case of business improvement districts in New Jersey

A significant body of scholarship on cross-sector collaboration highlights the conditions of success in collaborative relationships. Various factors could determine the success and failure of collaboration, but the agreement on partners' shared goals and values could not be reached without proper leaders and participants. Furthermore, collaboration may prioritize efficiency by sacrificing public values to private interests. This dissertation explores the collaborative features of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and the way that multiple participants involved in governance and management create public values. This study uses mixed methods to examine collaborative advantages and challenges created by different perspectives of participants. The findings suggest that the support and capacity of multiple participants enhance collaboration. Collaborative governance strengthens BIDs, such as professional expertise of managing directors and active participation of volunteering board/trust members. However, BIDs could not be sustained without support from governments and communities, because they can be politically vulnerable to the whims of multiple partners. Furthermore, participants perceive differences and improvements achieved by successful BIDs and request more participation of communities for greater success. In practice, public values can be discussed in the context of performance. The effectiveness of BIDs can be improved by enhancing democratic values and achieving managerial goals through collaborative governance. Although economic and institutional challenges create significant problems for declining city and town areas, BIDs are important collaborative efforts made by governments as well as private and nonprofit organizations. These collaborative actions for the public good could provide solutions for public policy challenges in urban areas and suggest implications for the future as well.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Jung Ah (Claire) Yu