Government-nonprofit Partnerships outside the Contracting Relationship and Public Funding Allocation: Evidence from New York City’s Park System

Abstract

Government-nonprofit partnerships outside the contracting relationship have become an increasingly important mechanism in financing and supporting public service provision. However, the relationship between these partnerships and public funding allocation remains unclear. We articulate two competing mechanisms—the substitution mechanism and the exchange mechanism—and empirically test them with a unique geocoded dataset of public park capital projects allocation in New York City. Our findings indicate that parks units supported by government-nonprofit partnerships are likely to receive more public capital project funding, which supports the exchange mechanism. In addition, larger parks with a more populous community surrounding them get more public capital funding allocation. As governments at all levels are seeking new ways to finance and manage public service provision, many more empirical studies in other service subsectors, time periods, and geographical contexts are required to draw more general conclusions about how government-nonprofit partnerships may influence public funding allocation and how such dynamics may compromise or promote equitable public service provision.