How citizen coproducers cope with public value creation conflicts: a survey experiment

Abstract

PurposeIn coproduction, citizens may be confronted with a conflict between creating user value and a more collective understanding of public value creation. In order to deal with conflicts experienced as trade-off situations, coproducers follow various coping strategies leading to different results. This study aims to gain insight into what drives the choices for coping strategies, which are valuable for understanding the role of citizen coproducers in public value creation.Design/methodology/approachThis article studies the effects of citizens' external efficacy and trust in public servants on citizen coproducers' preferences for coping strategies. The study presents a vignette experiment among n = 257 citizens involved in the temporary use of vacant spaces in Flanders, Belgium.FindingsNo statistically significant effects of external efficacy and trust in public servants on respondents' preferences for coping strategies are found. The results show that irrespective of the level of external efficacy or trust in public servants, citizen coproducers prefer to ask for help from the public servant involved in the project.Originality/valueThis result draws attention to the need for facilitation and guidance from public servants and the servants' organizations to help citizen coproducers balance out these otherwise paralyzing value conflicts. Moreover, the lack of statistically significant effects of trust and external efficacy is a valuable finding for literature. The result shows that, in the drivers of coproduction behavior, there is no consistent relationship between citizen trust in government or external efficacy and coproduction behavior.