Evaluating Community and Government Engagement Processes in the Central
Queensland Region, Australia
Rolfe JC1*, Yee S2*
1. Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
2. Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
There are increasing trends for government to engage communities and
stakeholders in a variety of mechanisms as a part of service delivery,
planning, and infrastructure and regional development. However, there
is little empirical research to guide public managers in determining best
value arrangements and strategic investments for building a region’s
‘collaborative advantage’. An economic appraisal of engagement
processes might focus on evaluating whether the various benefits of engagement
outweigh the costs.
It is difficult to identify and assess many of costs and benefits associated
with engagement processes. Many of the costs can be identified as transaction
costs, where the costs of communication and engagement in a process can
be likened to the search, negotiation, monitoring and enforcement costs
familiar from market transactions. In a marginal analysis setting, the
question is whether the costs occurred from an additional engagement process
are justified when the benefits are considered.
The benefits of engagement might include improvements to resource allocation
and social capital, and reductions in conflict and resistance to change.
These benefits are difficult to estimate, although non-market valuation
techniques offer some insights into the magnitude of these benefits. In
this paper, some preliminary estimates of the benefits and costs of case
studies in community engagement are reported from Central Queensland,
Australia.
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