among network partners, especially
between private and public actors. These players have different
objective functions and orientations. The higher the
degree of differentiation among partners in a given network
the higher the expected costs of coordination. For
instance, an initial stage of interaction between government
ministries and civil society organizations will
impose costs on any form of networks. Although networks
are often created precisely for the very reason that
they are better equipped to handle diversity and differentiation
among players, networks need to institute a systematic
coordination mechanism to iron out differences. It is
likely that coordination and control costs will be lower in
cases of horizontal networks than horizontal networks.
This is because the latter is likely to be consisted of more
diverse partners from different sectors. Uniformity among
network members is likely to reduce the coordination costs but homogeneity among members brings little to the
network in terms of economics of specialization and
experience.