Approaches to co-creating successful public service innovations with citizens: A comparison of different governance traditions

IMPACT

This article provides empirically-based insights about the effect of co-creation and citizen involvement on the outcomes of public service innovation in different countries, which can be translated into recipes for successful co-creation. The key finding is that differences in approaches to citizen involvement in successful public service innovation depend on the context of administrative tradition and culture of governance. Therefore, policy-makers and public innovation practitioners need to be aware of the administrative tradition and culture of governance in their country so that recipes for citizen involvement in public service innovation projects can be successfully applied.

ABSTRACT

This article examines how different approaches to co-creation with citizens can positively affect the outcomes of public service innovation. The article uses data collected from a large-scale survey of public managers responsible for innovation projects, and compares two countries (Norway and Spain) with different governance traditions. Through the application of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), configurations for successful public innovation are identified and compared. The results reveal a positive relationship between co-creation and the outcomes of public service innovation. In addition, while citizen demand is an important driver of innovation in Spain, Norway relies more on co-creation. The article adds to our knowledge of the effect of co-creation on the outcomes of public service innovation in different contexts. As one of the first international comparative studies of co-creation outcomes using quantitative data, this study supplements the dominantly normative literature in this field by providing empirically-based insights.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizen involvement
• co-creation
• co-design
• co-implementation
• public service innovation
• QCA
• state and governance traditions
• service innovation outcomes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).