Correlates of co-production: Evidence from a Five-Nation Survey of Citizens

We employ data from an original survey of citizens in the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, and the Czech Republic to examine correlates of citizen co-production of public services in three key policy areas: public safety, the environment, and health. The correlates of co-production we consider include demographic factors (age, gender, education, and employment status), community characteristics (urban, non-urban), performance perceptions (how good a job government is doing), government outreach (providing information and seeking consultation), and self-efficacy (how much of a difference citizens believe they can make). We also report on results from a series of focus groups on the topic of co-production held in each country. Our results suggest that women and elderly citizens generally engage more often in co-production and that self-efficacy – the belief that citizens can make a difference – is an especially important determinant across sectors. Interestingly, good outcome performance (in the sense of a safe neighbourhood, a clean environment, and good health) seems to discourage co-production somewhat. Thus citizens’ co-production appears to depend in part on awareness of a shortfall in public performance on outcomes. Our results also provide some evidence that co-production is enhanced when governments provide information or engage citizens in consultation. The specific determinants vary, however, not only by sector but across national contexts.

Cite as: Parrado, Salvador; van Ryzin, Gregg, Bovaird, Tony and Loeffler, Elke (2013), “Correlates of co-production: Evidence from a Five-Nation Survey of Citizens”, International Public Management Journal, Vol. 16 (1): 1–28, https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2013.796260.

Download:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10967494.2013.796260