Hybrids of Hybrids? Plural Forms of Collaboration and the Social Value of Public Initiatives

New research efforts in strategic management and public administration have converged in their examination of how the interdependent action of public and private organizations can help create social value. We advance this discussion by showing how myriad forms of hybrid collaboration increase the value-creating potential of public service initiatives. Using a unique set of 24 public initiatives in three large emerging economies (Brazil, India, and South Africa), we examine three distinct hybrids–collaborations between governments and for-profit firms (“public-private”), between governments and non-profit organizations (“public-nonprofit”), and between multiple units of the public bureaucracy (“public-public”)–and assess in which conditions they are associated with social value creation, expressed in our cases as evidence of positive impact in target communities and populations. Our fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of the cases not only revels alternative configurations consistent with po...