Research project

The dynamics of co-production at the street-level

How citizens and professionals are the key to successful collaboration in the delivery of public services. How do individual characteristics of citizens and professionals influence citizen-professional collaboration in the co-production of public services?

Funding: ‘Research Talent Grant’ (Onderzoekstalent subsidie) by NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research)
Partners: Dr. Trui Steen and Carola van Eijk MSc. are both involved in the IIAS Study Group on ‘Co-production of Public Services’.

Although co-production is a well-studied object of research, important paradoxes remain when focusing at citizens and professionals. Why do citizens become disappointed during co-production? Why do professionals feel constrained when interacting with citizens? Existing research describes co-production primarily in (inter-)organizational terms. The research aims to solve the paradoxes by extending current insights with new research on characteristics of individual citizens and professionals and their collaboration in the co-production of public services. The project integrates Public Service Motivation, trust, street-level bureaucracy, and professional autonomy into the study of co-production and tests hypotheses combining quantitative and qualitative research.