The community philanthropic foundation: A new form of independent public service provider in China?

Abstract

There have been growing calls for new theories understand public governance with respect to service provision collaboration involving nonprofit and for-profit actors. In this article, we develop a framework for analyzing whether and how independent public service providers change cross-sector collaboration. We examine new forms of collaboration in nonprofit organizations in China. Based on a discussion of the effectiveness of public service delivery by community philanthropic foundations in three Chinese cities, our analysis reveals that the new type of collaboration entities are attempting to meet unfulfilled public needs. Outside the government’s hierarchical structure, nonprofit and for-profit actors jointly form independent organizations to address public issues. However, because public governance systems are more centralized in China than in many Western countries, the country faces major challenges in the production and delivery of public goods and in implementing service reforms. This article extends the existing research discourse on public governance and cross-sector collaboration.