In addition, network governance is described as a
form of organizational alliance in which relevant policy
actors are linked together as co-producers where they
are more likely to identify and share common interests.
Because they develop a culture of trust, the relationship tends to be more interdependent. Lowndes and Skelcher
(1998) go so far as to say that a network is a form of
informal mergers among different types of organizations.
Often a model of resource dependency has been
sought to describe the network relationships where interactions
between organizations are assumed to be motivated
by the need to obtain important resources from
other organizations (Aldrich, 1976; Scharpf, 1978). This
implies that network partners bring important and strategic
assets that contribute to mutual relationship to the
network and the build-up of interdependent relationship
tend to develop trust and reciprocity. Table 1 summarizes
the various definitions network scholars have come
up with in recent years.