Coproduction and Equity in Public Service Delivery

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12094
• Date: 01 September 2013
• Published date: 01 September 2013
• Author: Simon Calmar Andersen,Morten Jakobsen

Morten Jakobsen is assistant professor

in the Department of Political Science

and Government at Aarhus University. His

research interests include coproduction of

public services, the relationship between

public administration and citizens, public

employees, information and communication

in bureaucracy, and various forms of politi-

cal participation.

E-mail: mortenj@ps.au.dk

Simon Calmar Andersen is associate

professor in the Department of Political

Science and Government at Aarhus

University. His research examines different

aspects of political institutions, as well as

budgeting and management strategies

and their impact on organizational

performance, especially within education.

He has published work in Journal of

Public Administration Research and

Theory, Journal of Policy Analysis

and Management, and Public

Administration, among other journals.

E-mail: simon@ps.au.dk

704 Public Administration Review • September | October 2013

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 73, Iss. 5, pp. 704–713. © 2013 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12094.

Morten Jakobsen

Simon Calmar Andersen

Aarhus University, Denmark

Public managers and researchers devote much attention to

the benef‌i ts of coproduction, or the mixing of the produc-

tive ef‌f orts of public employees and citizens in public

service design and delivery. One concern, however, is the

distributional consequences of coproduction.  is article

proposes that disadvantaged citizens may be constrained by

a lack of knowledge or other resources necessary to contrib-

ute to and benef‌i t from the coproduction process. From this

assumption, the authors develop the theoretical argument

that if coproduction programs were designed to lift con-

straints on disadvantaged citizens, they might increase both

ef‌f‌i ciency and equity.  is claim is

tested using a f‌i eld experiment on

educational services. A coproduc-

tion program providing immigrant

parents with knowledge and mate-

rials useful to their children’s early

educational development had a

substantial positive impact on the

educational outcomes of disadvan-

taged children, thereby diminish-

ing inequity. Economically, the

program was more ef‌f‌i cient than

later compensation of low-perform-

ing children.

Over the last decade, coproduction in public

service delivery has become a major theme

among public managers and public admin-

istration researchers. In particular, interest in citizen

input to the provision of public services has been

growing —and for good reason. Most public services

are not just delivered to users who passively receive

them. In most public service delivery, citizens, in the

form of service users or volunteers, play an active role

in the provision process (that is, they “coproduce”

the service) (see, e.g., Alford 2009; Bovaird 2007;

Brandsen and Pestof‌f 2006; Osborne 2008; Pestof‌f ,

Brandsen, and Verschuere 2012). Examples include

services such as health, education, waste recycling, and

policing (Alford 2009, 1–3).  us, citizen input to

the service provision process is a central part of overall

citizen participation in public services, which also

includes, for example, citizens’ involvement in deci-

sion making and management of services (John 2009;

O’Leary, Gerard, and Bingham 2006; Roberts 2004).

 is article focuses on coproduction and equity in

public service delivery specif‌i cally. Organizing services

in a way that utilizes citizen input as an important

resource is often associated with benef‌i ts such as

improved service quantity and quality (e.g., Bovaird

2007; Ostrom 1996; Vamstad 2012). However, less

is known about the distributional consequences of

governments’ coproduction

strategies. Which citizens will

experience improved service

outcomes because of copro-

duction? Does coproduction

potentially increase the gap

in service outcomes between

advantaged and disadvantaged

citizens? Or could coproduction

programs be designed in ways

that support the most disadvan-

taged users in increasing their

productive ef‌f orts and service

outcomes?

Traditionally, citizens with high socioeconomic status

(SES) tend to coproduce more than low-SES citizens

(Ostrom 1996; Warren, Rosentraub, and Harlow

1984).  is article develops the theoretcial argu-

ment that disadvantaged citizens may be constrained

in their contribution to coproduction by a lack of

knowledge (about how to coproduce and the impor-

tance of their input) and by a lack of materials that

facilitate their coproductive ef‌f orts. Under these cir-

cumstances, the way in which coproduction increases

the quantity and quality of services may actually

excacerbate the gap between service outcomes for

advantaged and disadvantaged citizens. On this basis,

the article proposes the argument that if programs are

designed to lift these constraints, coproduction strate-

gies may increase both ef‌f‌i ciency and equity in public

service delivery.

Coproduction and Equity in Public Service Delivery

Does coproduction potentially

increase the gap in service

outcomes between advantaged

and disadvantaged citizens? Or

could coproduction programs

be designed in ways that sup-

port the most disadvantaged

users in increasing their pro-

ductive ef‌f orts and service

outcomes?