More Accountability Less Willingness to Collaboration? Evidence from a Survey Experiment

The establishment of effective accountability in cross-sectoral collaboration within the public sector is a critical issue. The use of performance information is particularly crucial for ensuring accountability for results. The effectiveness of cross-sectoral collaboration relies not only on organizational structures and procedural mechanisms but also on shared accountability for outcomes. However, there is limited understanding of how performance information is utilized in collaborative efforts. This study employed a between-group experimental design, dividing participants into four groups, to examine how accountability mechanisms established through performance information affect the willingness to collaborate. Two of the groups incorporated the use of performance information for accountability, while the other two did not. Additionally, these two groups were further assigned narratives of high and low performance. The experimental results indicate that, compared to the groups not using performance information, participants exhibit a lower willingness to collaborate when a punitive accountability mechanism is established using performance information in the task. High collaboration performance significantly enhances the willingness to collaborate, while low collaboration performance does not show a significant difference in collaboration willingness. Furthermore, in scenarios without performance information, both high and low performance significantly enhance the willingness to collaborate, with this effect being stronger in the high performance group. However, in scenarios using performance information, high performance significantly increases the willingness to collaborate, while low performance results in a decrease in the willingness to collaborate. Our research advocates for a more positively oriented accountability in public sector collaboration, rather than one overly focused on negative aspects, thereby stimulating a willingness to collaborate. Additionally, there is a need to focus on the impact of staged successes on the sustainability of collaboration. This study provides empirical evidence on the use of performance information in collaboration and seeks to enrich academic discourse on contemporary governance challenges by revealing the intricate relationship between accountability mechanisms and the dynamics of cross-sectoral collaboration.