Fostering innovation through collaboration: a comparison of collaborative approaches to policy design

Wicked problems have forced policy makers to develop new strategies for policy design that deal better with complexity. Both cross-sectoral and multi-actor collaboration are presented by collaborative governance advocates as potential solutions. Nevertheless, even if both approaches have been theoretically linked to policy innovation, there is little empirical evidence to support those relationships and none that compare the innovative potential of different collaborative approaches. Using regression analysis, we analysed 529 policy strategies promoted by Barcelona City Council as part of the Pla de Barris (‘neighbourhood plan’) strategy to identify whose participation in policy design is more meaningful in terms of innovation. Within the public sector, both collaborative government and cross-sectoral collaboration appear to be related with policy innovation. However, when non-public actors – in particular, third-sector organisations – get involved in the policy-design process (through co-creation), the innovative potential of the policy output increases significantly.