Explaining the outcomes of co-creation: An international comparison

Co-creation with citizens is considered more and more as a remedy to all kinds of ‘wicked’ problems, such as ageing, unemployment and a decline of legitimacy of public institutions. Citizens are no longer considered as... [ view full abstract ]

Co-creation with citizens is considered more and more as a remedy to all kinds of ‘wicked’ problems, such as ageing, unemployment and a decline of legitimacy of public institutions. Citizens are no longer considered as consumers of public services, but as co-creators of these services in order to enhance the sustainability of contemporary public services and them more efficient and effective (e.g. Needham, 2008; Parrado, Van Ryzin, Bovaird, & Löffler, 2013; Pestoff, 2006). As such co-creation (and the related concept co-production) seems to be considered as a ‘one size fits all’ solution to a variety of policy problems. So far previous research to co-creation has been predominantly aimed at identifying influential factors. Consequently, much is unknown about the effects or outcomes are of co-creation (Verschuere et al. 2012). In this research we are aiming at identifying and explaining these outcomes. Co-creation (the involvement of citizens in the initiation and/or the design process of public services in order to create beneficial outcomes Voorberg, Bekkers, & Tummers, 2014) urges different stakeholders, to intensively work together, despite different backgrounds and having different interests. Therefore, we argue that what is considered as an outcome varies per actor group and is depending on the social system (Stone, 2003) of actors to participate in co-creation. Furthermore, given that governmental action is embedded within an institutional context, we examine to what extent state and governance traditions on the macro-level may influence these reasons of why actors participate in co-creation. Hence, in this research, by conducting an international comparative case study between four examples of co-creation in four different countries (the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and the UK); we identify the outcomes of co-creation and reasons to co-create per involved actor group and examine to what extent these outcomes can be explained by the institutional context in which they are embedded.

Keywords: co-creation with citizens; outcomes; international comparison; institutional context