Co-production and Citizens’ Satisfaction with Public Services: The Case of Environmental Public Services in China

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of co-production on citizens’ satisfaction with environmental public services. Using survey data from China, the findings demonstrate that co-production can increase citizens’ satisfaction with environmental public services. Contrary to existing explanations, there is a significant difference between satisfaction with central and local governments in China. Co-production has positively increased citizens’ satisfaction with the effectiveness of environmental governance in local governments, and this has only partially positively increased for the central government. The findings demonstrate that co-production can optimize the structure of public services to increase citizens’ satisfaction with public services.