Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/68258
Exports for your reference manager
Citizen coproduction and efficient public good provision: theory and evidence from local public libraries
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH
Abstract In both public administration and economics, efficiency is brought forward as an important criterion for evaluating administrative actions. Clearly, its value as an assessment principle depends on our ability to adequately measure efficiency. This article argues that citizen's coproduction in public... view more
In both public administration and economics, efficiency is brought forward as an important criterion for evaluating administrative actions. Clearly, its value as an assessment principle depends on our ability to adequately measure efficiency. This article argues that citizen's coproduction in public services requires a careful reassessment of how we approach the measurement of productive efficiency in public service delivery. Theoretically, we illustrate that using observable outcomes (e.g., library circulation, school results, health outcomes, fires extinguished, crimes solved) as output indicators is inappropriate and leads to biased estimates of public service providers' productive efficiency. This bias arises because citizens co-determine final outputs, leaving them at least partly beyond the service providers' control. Empirically, we find supportive evidence of both the existence and importance of such "demand-induced" bias. (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
public service; efficiency; engineering; library; codetermination; citizen; performance; measurement; administration
Classification
Administrative Science
Information and Documentation, Libraries, Archives
Document language
English
Publication Year
2012
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
27 p.
Series
Discussion Papers / Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Schwerpunkt Märkte und Politik, Forschungsprofessur und Projekt The Future of Fiscal Federalism, SP II 2012-108
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/68258
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications