Defining and Measuring Coproduction: Deriving Lessons from Practicing Local Government Managers

Following a lapse in scholarly attention, coproduction, the joint production of services by government officials and citizens, has re‐emerged as an important topic. However, the field lacks information on broad parameters of coproduction implementation and how public managers view coproduction. To a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration review 2022-09, Vol.82 (5), p.795-805
Main Authors: Brudney, Jeffrey (Jeff) L., Cheng, Yuan (Daniel), Meijs, Lucas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrators
Counties
Implementation
Local government
Measurement
Public officials
Services
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Summary:Following a lapse in scholarly attention, coproduction, the joint production of services by government officials and citizens, has re‐emerged as an important topic. However, the field lacks information on broad parameters of coproduction implementation and how public managers view coproduction. To address the lacuna, this study examines patterns of implementation of coproduction in a national sample of municipalities and counties in the U.S. According to their chief administrators, nearly half these governments have implemented one or more stages of coproduction, although co‐delivery of services occurs least often. Empirical analysis suggests that the implementation of coproduction, as perceived by local government managers, can be measured along a unidimensional scale and that this measurement scale is robust across different subgroups. We also find that local governments that have a larger population, provide more services, have more professional forms of administration, and are located in the western U.S. more often implement elements of coproduction.
ISSN:0033-3352
1540-6210
DOI:10.1111/puar.13476