Unpacking the mechanisms linking public–private innovation partnership and public value creation: a configurational approach

Public–private innovation partnership (PPIP) is a collaborative model in which the public and private sectors jointly produce innovative public goods and services. However, how both organizations create public value within this hybrid governance arrangement remains unclear. To address this question, this study explores which combinations of conditions in strategic management and collaborative innovation contribute to public value creation in PPIP, using a fuzzy-set qualitative analysis of the digital innovation in Chinese government hotline services. Results indicate that legally binding contracts enhance material public value, while shared relational norms promote procedural public value. Moreover, risk management, knowledge sharing, and information publicness play crucial roles in the creation of both material and procedural public value. Points for practitioners The study identifies configurations factors driving public value creation in PPIP, rooted in the dual logics of strategic management and collaborative innovation. Producing and balancing material and procedural public value results from the combination of contractual rigor and relational governance, with complex causal mechanisms. In PPIP, “hard”contractual mechanisms drive MPV-oriented outcomes, while “soft” shared relational norms foster PPV-oriented outcomes. Risk management, shared knowledge bases, and external transparency are core to creating public value in PPIP.