Shapers or schemers of collaborative governance: network management in England's Local Enterprise Partnerships

The coordination of inter-organisational networks is key to their success and yet partnership management in the context of regional economic development remains a complex and ambiguous process. To address this lack of understanding, this article reviews the extant literature on brokerage and network coordination and presents a theoretical framework comprising three propositions on the benefits of a private sector influence over the management and coordination of multi-organisational economic development partnerships. The propositions are then explored through a qualitative study of those tasked with the role of leading the management of Local Enterprise Partnerships in England. The findings conversely reveal a reliance on the public sector to lead the framing and mobilisation of these networks and questions whether the policy shift has resulted in truly collaborative governance.