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Co-production is currently one of cornerstones of public policy reform across the globe. Inter alia, it is articulated as a valuable route to public service reform and to the planning and delivery of effective public services, a response to the democratic deficit and a route to active citizenship and active communities, and as a means by which to lever in additional resources to public services delivery. Despite these varied roles, co-production is actually poorly formulated and has become one of a series of 'woolly-words' in public policy. This paper presents a conceptualisation of co-production that is theoretically rooted in both public management and service management theory. It argues that this is a robust starting point for the evolution of new research and knowledge about co-production and for the development of evidence based public policy making and implementation.

This article argues that current public management theory is not fit for purpose-if it ever has been. It argues that it contains two fatal flaws-it focuses on intraorganizational processes at a time when the reality of public services delivery is interorganizational, and it draws upon management theory derived from the experience of the manufacturing sector and which ignores the reality of public services as "services." The article subsequently argues for a "public service dominant" approach. This not only more accurately reflects the reality of contemporary public management but also draws upon a body of substantive service-dominant theory that is more relevant to public management than the previous manufacturing focus. We argue that this approach makes an innovative contribution to public management theory in the era of the New Public Governance. The article concludes by exploring the implications of this approach in four domains of public management and by setting a research agenda for a public-service dominant theory for the future.

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We propose an important theoretical development for our understanding of the co-production of public services. It combines the insights from both public administration and services management theory to produce a novel typology of co-production. This clarifies its role at the operational and strategic levels, as well as its potential for transformational change in public services. Understanding co-production in this way provides a basis through which to explore a whole range of dimensions of co-production that were previously undifferentiated. examined the association between the service bs_bs_banner