Outcomes of Outcomes: Performance Feedback in Collaborative Watershed Management

Collaborative governance outcomes are rarely singular or self-contained. Instead, they reshape the system context and feed into mechanisms that influence future collaborations. While scholars recognize the dynamic nature of collaborative governance, little is known about how performance information adjusts subsequent collaborations. To bridge this gap, we examine whether and how collaborative watershed management adapts to its water quality improvement outcomes. Using 27 years of panel data from 68 Oregon watersheds, we find that, on average, absolute water quality scores are positively associated with the number, participant count, and total costs of subsequent collaborative projects but at a decreasing rate. However, relative changes in water quality scores tend to have increasing marginal effects. These relationships are more pronounced for projects funded by the collaborative platform than those that are not. These findings advance the understanding of performance feedback and collaborative governance, with implications for the robustness of collaborative performance.

协同治理（collaborative governance）的成果极少是单一且自洽的，反而会重塑系统情境，并嵌入影响后续协同合作的运行机制当中。尽管学者们已意识到协同治理的动态属性，但学界对于绩效信息如何调节后续协同合作的相关研究仍较为匮乏。为填补这一研究空白，本文以流域协同治理（collaborative watershed management）为研究对象，探究其是否以及如何适配水质改善成果。本研究使用美国俄勒冈州68个流域长达27年的面板数据，分析发现：平均而言，绝对水质评分与后续协同项目的数量、参与人数及总成本呈正相关关系，但这种相关性会以递减速率减弱；不过，水质评分的相对变化则往往呈现递增的边际效应。相较于非协同平台资助的项目，由协同平台资助的项目中，上述关联表现得更为显著。本研究结论深化了对绩效反馈与协同治理的认知，同时为协同治理绩效的稳健性研究提供了理论启示。