The Co-production of Public Services

“This book provides an excellent guide to the current literature on co-production, with especially valuable attention to its management and evaluation. By highlighting the lessons from co-production in the private sector, the authors give very useful and timely new insights into how co-production can contribute to public services and help to improve public value.”— Tony Bovaird, Professor of Public Management and Policy (Emeritus), University of Birmingham, UK
​Coproduction covers the practice in which state actors (for example, government agents) and lay actors (for example, members of the public) work together in any phase of the public service cycle. In the past two decades, the literature of coproduction has grown swiftly, but in a fragmented manner. Thus, this book systematizes the literature on coproduction into a comprehensive framework that tackles activation, management and evaluation, illustrated through empirical examples. It adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, analyzing literature streams such as public administration and policy, public management, business management, and marketing, among others. It will be invaluable reading for academics working on coproduction, public management, and business management.

Author Biography

Denita Cepiku is Associate Professor of Public Management at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Her main research interests are in the areas of network management, co-production and strategic management. She is President of the Technical Commission for Performance at the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Marta Marsilio is Associate Professor of Management at University of Milan. Her research interests include operation management and supply chain management in service delivery organisations, co-production, public-private partnerships and e-health. She has authored several books and articles and she has been principal investigator of different research projects.

Mariafrancesca Sicilia is Associate Professor at Bergamo University in Italy and Visiting Fellow in the Department of Public Leadership and Social Enterprise (PuLSE) at The Open University in UK. Her research covers public sector budgeting, accounting, performance measurement and management, participation and coproduction in public services.

Milena Vainieri is Associate Professor of Management at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa, where she is responsible of the Management and Health laboratory of the Institute of Management and Embeds department. Her main research interests are in performance measurement, assessment and management, human resource management and governance mechanisms in health care.