Co-production and innovation in public services: can co-production drive innovation?

This chapter uses an integrated typology of co-production to consider co-production and the innovation of public services. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first discusses co-production through the integration of two theoretical standpoints: services management (Normann 1991; Venetis and Ghauri 2004; Gronroos 2007; Johnston and Clark 2008; Vargo et al. 2008) and public administration (Whitaker 1980; Parks et al. 1981; Brudney and England 1983; Bovaird 2005, 2007; Pestoff 2006). This integration has led to the development of a typology of co-production which can be used to differentiate co-production at the individual and organizational levels. Referring to these types of coproduction, the discussion will turn to innovation. The vast literature on innovation will not be covered here. Rather, the focus will be upon the role of co-production in innovating public services. Using the data collected during a study of co-production in the case of asylum seekers in Glasgow, the second part of the chapter will consider whether co-production is a mechanism that can be used to drive innovation in public services.