Accountability Effects of Public Participation Practice in Chinese Public Projects: Partial Least-Squares Path Analysis

Public participation has become an indispensable approach for governments in meeting the various needs of accountability in delivering public projects, especially those concerning urbanization and infrastructure development in China. However, it is not known how, and how much, current public participation practice can enhance project-related and social accountability (SA). Based on this study's survey of 158 various stakeholders in public projects in South China, underlying relationships are revealed between project decision-making accountability (PDMA) and project implementation accountability (PIA) and their association with SA. Further, partial least-squares (PLS) path analysis indicates that PDMA has a long-run mediating role in the establishment of SA, while PIA does not. These results and findings not only enhance a deep understanding of the overall effects of public participation forms in the theoretical domain but also provide useful, practical guides to improve China's local government and practitioner practices.