New Public Governance, the Third Sector, and Co-Production

20  Conclusion

Taking Research onCo-Production a Step Further

Taco Brandsen, Bram Verschuereand Victor Pestoff

OVERVIEW

In earlier work, it was suggested that “future research [on co-production] could conceptualize the different types of functions more systematically and assess them on a cross-sectoral and/or cross-national basis” (Pestoff, Osborne and Brandsen, 2006, 594). We took up the challenge and defined the questions presented in the introduction to this volume:

• Conceptual issues: What is the nature of co-production, and what different conceptualizations exist, especially in the context of public management?
• Empirical issues: How does co-production work in public service delivery in practice? Is it as successful or mundane as some of ...