Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis
Collaborative decision-making across multiple government agencies is considered a critical and effective strategy to combat public health crisis; however, we know little about how the collaborative decision-making works and evolves during periods of crisis. To fill this lacuna, this study uncovers t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/590 |
| _version_ | 1797471149568819200 |
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| author | Quan Cheng Shulin Zheng Zheng Xiong Minwang Lin |
| author_facet | Quan Cheng Shulin Zheng Zheng Xiong Minwang Lin |
| author_sort | Quan Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Collaborative decision-making across multiple government agencies is considered a critical and effective strategy to combat public health crisis; however, we know little about how the collaborative decision-making works and evolves during periods of crisis. To fill this lacuna, this study uncovers the structure and evolving dynamics of the network by employing a policy document analysis. Based on the policy documents, jointly issued by the agencies of Chinese central government in four phases regarding COVID-19 control, we first constructed a co-occurrence matrix of policy-issuing agencies to outline the network structure, then drew a breadth–depth matrix to identify the role evolution of agencies, and lastly built a two-mode network consisting of policy topics and agencies to determine the evolution mechanisms of policy attentions for each agency. It was found that the network structure of interagency collaboration involves three forms: discrete structure in the early phase, subgroup structure in the middle phase, and connected structure in the latter phase. Agencies embedded in the network can be categorized into three types: leading agencies, key agencies, and auxiliary agencies, with their constituent members changed as the pandemic risks are gradually becoming under control. Furthermore, each type has its own primary policy attentions, but shares some common foci in all four phases and shifts attention in the emergency management process. This study contributes to shedding light on the formation of and variations in collaborative networks in health emergencies and provides policy implications for other countries that have struggled against COVID-19. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:46:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5f79ba7e6853462fb71ad1997b12e985 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:46:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-5f79ba7e6853462fb71ad1997b12e9852023-11-24T01:23:59ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322022-03-0110359010.3390/healthcare10030590Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document AnalysisQuan Cheng0Shulin Zheng1Zheng Xiong2Minwang Lin3School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, ChinaDepartment of Foreign Languages, Zhicheng College, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, ChinaCollaborative decision-making across multiple government agencies is considered a critical and effective strategy to combat public health crisis; however, we know little about how the collaborative decision-making works and evolves during periods of crisis. To fill this lacuna, this study uncovers the structure and evolving dynamics of the network by employing a policy document analysis. Based on the policy documents, jointly issued by the agencies of Chinese central government in four phases regarding COVID-19 control, we first constructed a co-occurrence matrix of policy-issuing agencies to outline the network structure, then drew a breadth–depth matrix to identify the role evolution of agencies, and lastly built a two-mode network consisting of policy topics and agencies to determine the evolution mechanisms of policy attentions for each agency. It was found that the network structure of interagency collaboration involves three forms: discrete structure in the early phase, subgroup structure in the middle phase, and connected structure in the latter phase. Agencies embedded in the network can be categorized into three types: leading agencies, key agencies, and auxiliary agencies, with their constituent members changed as the pandemic risks are gradually becoming under control. Furthermore, each type has its own primary policy attentions, but shares some common foci in all four phases and shifts attention in the emergency management process. This study contributes to shedding light on the formation of and variations in collaborative networks in health emergencies and provides policy implications for other countries that have struggled against COVID-19.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/590public health emergenciescollaborative emergency managementcollaborative networkdecision-makinginteragencypolicy document analysis |
| spellingShingle | Quan Cheng Shulin Zheng Zheng Xiong Minwang Lin Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis Healthcare public health emergencies collaborative emergency management collaborative network decision-making interagency policy document analysis |
| title | Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis |
| title_full | Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis |
| title_short | Characterizing the Dynamic Evolution of Interagency Collaborative Decision-Making Networks in Response to COVID-19 in China: A Policy Document Analysis |
| title_sort | characterizing the dynamic evolution of interagency collaborative decision making networks in response to covid 19 in china a policy document analysis |
| topic | public health emergencies collaborative emergency management collaborative network decision-making interagency policy document analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/590 |
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