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DISTRIBUTED KNOWLEDGE AND THE CREATION OF PUBLIC VALUE: COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZING AND WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

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Title: DISTRIBUTED KNOWLEDGE AND THE CREATION OF PUBLIC VALUE: COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZING AND WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
Authors: STEIN, DEVIN, MINNITI, MARIA
Source: Academy of Management Journal; Oct2025, Vol. 68 Issue 5, p1000-1030, 31p, 5 Color Photographs, 11 Charts
Subject Terms: COMMUNITY organization, VALUE creation, PUBLIC value, CALIFORNIA wildfires
Abstract: We build on extant theories of collective action and public–private collaborations to unpack the distinctive role self-organizing communities may play alongside other organizations in the creation of public value. We suggest that, when communities self-organize to address a common goal and, in particular, when they collaborate with higher-level public organizations, they discover more and better opportunities to reduce market frictions. Using an original longitudinal dataset of community-level fire prevention plans in Northern California from 1998 to 2018, we find that communities taking local actions and coordinating them with state and federal organizations manage wildfires better and experience fewer property losses than communities that do not organize. The number of stakeholders participating in these collaborations and the extent of the collaborations across hierarchical levels reinforce this effect. We conjecture that one possible mechanism explaining why self-organizing and cross-level collaborations tend to yield positive outcomes may be because they allow stakeholders to benefit from otherwise idle local knowledge. Unpacking the role played by self-organizing communities and their cross-level collaborations is important because it may enable contextualized solutions and prevent the potentially ineffective application of homogenous practices to heterogeneous problems, even in the absence of formal contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Complementary Index
Description
Abstract:We build on extant theories of collective action and public–private collaborations to unpack the distinctive role self-organizing communities may play alongside other organizations in the creation of public value. We suggest that, when communities self-organize to address a common goal and, in particular, when they collaborate with higher-level public organizations, they discover more and better opportunities to reduce market frictions. Using an original longitudinal dataset of community-level fire prevention plans in Northern California from 1998 to 2018, we find that communities taking local actions and coordinating them with state and federal organizations manage wildfires better and experience fewer property losses than communities that do not organize. The number of stakeholders participating in these collaborations and the extent of the collaborations across hierarchical levels reinforce this effect. We conjecture that one possible mechanism explaining why self-organizing and cross-level collaborations tend to yield positive outcomes may be because they allow stakeholders to benefit from otherwise idle local knowledge. Unpacking the role played by self-organizing communities and their cross-level collaborations is important because it may enable contextualized solutions and prevent the potentially ineffective application of homogenous practices to heterogeneous problems, even in the absence of formal contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00014273
DOI:10.5465/amj.2022.1331