Coproduction of public services: enabling and constraining factors

The aim of this study is to identify those institutional factors which facilitate or impede the process of coproduction / cocreation in public service delivery. Cocreation, coproduction, coproduction or cooperative governance... [ view full abstract ]

The aim of this study is to identify those institutional factors which facilitate or impede the process of coproduction / cocreation in public service delivery. Cocreation, coproduction, coproduction or cooperative governance are main topics of public administration and management sciences nowadays (Brandsen & Honingh 2015, Osborne, Radnor & Strokosch 2016). Articles presenting successful or unsuccessful cases of cocreation / coproduction in scientific journals are very common, however mega-analysis of these case studies are rare (Voorberg, Bekkers, & Tummers 2015). In our paper we have scrutinized 60 European case studies published in journals (Scimago Q1, Q2 at public administration science) after 2000. Content analysis (by MaxQDA 12.0) has been used to identify those informal and formal institutions which enable or constrain coproduction between public sector organizations, citizens or NGOs and private companies. We have applied Douglass North’s (1990) notions of informal and formal institutions, and separate the factors on the bases whether they are connected to culture, traditions, habits, or they are written rules of the game. Both types of factors influence and structure the behavior of the actors (PSOs, citizens, NGOs and private sector organizations) during their interaction and increase or decrease the transaction costs of coproduction. By making a meta-analysis, we may contribute to a better understanding of the necessary institutional arrangement of successful coproduction which has a crucial importance for practitioner as well.