Mediating Effect of Joint Action on Governing Complex Public Contracting

Governments around the world frequently procure complex products, such as large transport projects (LTPs), from markets. This process can be regarded as a kind of complex public contracting (CPC) requiring a cross-boundary collaboration between public buyers and different market vendors. Nevertheless, scholars have yet to discover how to sustain the performance of these CPCs. Based on the survey data on LTPs in China, this study explores the varied effects of three CPC elements (namely, public agency involvement, specific contractual design, and relational management) on contracting performance using structural equation modeling. The results show that both specific contractual design and relational management directly contribute to contracting performance, whereas joint action mediates these relationships. Moreover, public agency involvement cannot contribute to contracting performance directly except through the mediation of joint action.