Activating collective co-production of public services: influencing citizens to participate in complex governance mechanisms in the UK

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that citizen co-production of public services is more likely when the actions involved are easy and can be carried out individually rather than in groups. This article explores whether this holds in local areas of England and Wales. It asks which people are most likely to engage in individual and collective co-production and how people can be influenced to extend their co-production efforts by participating in more collective activities. Data were collected in five areas, using citizen panels organized by local authorities. The findings demonstrate that individual and collective co-production have rather different characteristics and correlates and highlight the importance of distinguishing between them for policy purposes. In particular, collective co-production is likely to be high in relation to any given issue when citizens have a strong sense that people can make a difference ('political self-efficacy'). 'Nudges' to encourage increased co-production had only a weak effect.

Designing for sustainable outcomes: espousing behavioural change into co-production programmes

“…It appeared that citizens are more likely to engage in co-production of public services and social outcomes with public agencies when the actions involved were relatively easy and could be carried out individually rather than in groups. (Bovaird et al, 2015;citing Löffler, Parrado, Bovaird, & Van Ryzin, 2008;Parrado, Van Ryzin, Bovaird, & Löffler, 2013) Building on these findings, Bovaird et al (2015) identify collective co-production as a distinctly outcomes-oriented phenomenon where even though the inputs into a co-production process may be provided by individual citizens, the resulting benefits or outcomes are accrued by the collective. The major finding of this study by Bovaird et al (2015), which cuts across four sectors, namely health, social well-being, community safety and local environment, is that the desired outcomes of co-production tended to be higher when individually, and collectively citizens had a strong sense of political self-efficacy, or the realisation that their actions can make a difference.…”

“…(Bovaird et al, 2015;citing Löffler, Parrado, Bovaird, & Van Ryzin, 2008;Parrado, Van Ryzin, Bovaird, & Löffler, 2013) Building on these findings, Bovaird et al (2015) identify collective co-production as a distinctly outcomes-oriented phenomenon where even though the inputs into a co-production process may be provided by individual citizens, the resulting benefits or outcomes are accrued by the collective. The major finding of this study by Bovaird et al (2015), which cuts across four sectors, namely health, social well-being, community safety and local environment, is that the desired outcomes of co-production tended to be higher when individually, and collectively citizens had a strong sense of political self-efficacy, or the realisation that their actions can make a difference. Supporting this finding is Sancino's (2015) depiction of community co-production, which contends that 'community outcomes result from a sum of peer production, co-production and inter-organizational collaboration across the public, third and private sectors.…”

“…Aside from a few seminal studies that have emerged in this past year (for example, Bovaird et al, 2015), most empirical studies of citizen behaviour and co-production have, again, been in the context of how people contribute to the implementation of the activity rather than in the context of what social goals have been achieved through it. The widely used academic depictions of co-production have emphasised citizen inputs into the service delivery process as being largely 'voluntary' (Parks et al, 1981;Pestoff, 2006).…”

Reading Public Service Co-Production through the Lenses of Requisite Variety

“…In this context, public service co-production is aimed at enhancing the responsiveness and the effectiveness of public sector organizations (Bovaird, Van Ryzin, Loeffler, & Parrado, 2015). From this point of view, beyond providing services, public sector entities perform as citizens' activators, encouraging them to wake their sleeping assets -that is to say their available resources to participate in the design and delivery of public services -and to use them for the purpose of public value creation (Bovaird et al, 2016). Different approaches have been suggested to foster user engagement.…”

“…Service co-production is a deep-rooted idea among scholars and practitioners interested in public management (Bovaird, Stoker, Jones, Loeffler, & Roncancio, 2016). The co-production idea was introduced in late 70s by Ostrom and Ostrom (1977), who pointed out that users' involvement is a distinguishing attribute of public services.…”