Public Value Research Articles

Connecting value creation for society with work engagement: the relevance of an organization’s public value as an extension of the job characteristics model

Since the seminal work by Hackman and Oldham (1975) there has been a growing body of literature demonstrating how work characteristics can positively both organizations and their employees. While the very nature of the task or job at hand is well explored, insufficient attention has been given to the social and cultural context in which the work is done (Spreitzer & Cameron, 2012). Based on Meynhardt’s public value approach (2009, 2015), we investigate whether organizational public value acts as an additional work characteristic in the Job Characteristics Model (JCM), thus extending the model. Specifically, we theorize that organizational public value is an additional unique resource for employees and social context work characteristic in the JCM that is positively related to employees work engagement. Additionally, our study analyzes that the positive relationship between the work characteristics, including organizational public value, and work engagement is mediated by self-efficacy. Moreover, we analyze whether employees working in industries with a public focus integrated into their core business will experience higher levels of public value in their jobs than employees in other industries. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a representative online survey in different public and non-public organizations in Switzerland (N = 949). Overall, the results support our hypotheses and contribute to close the gap by taking social context factors into the JCM and to reveal processes between the macro-level (organizational public value, work characteristics) and micro-level (employees work experience). Further theoretical and practical implications as well as future research avenues are discussed in the paper.

Metagovernance of co‐creation in city–university partnerships: How to avoid being stuck in the middle?

AbstractThis article contributes to public administration research on collaborative governance in partnerships by exploring local efforts to metagovern a multi‐layered interorganizational collaboration between a city and a university. Hence, to further explore the prospect for developing city–university partnerships (CUP) into local platforms for the co‐creation of innovative public value outcomes, we ask: How can metagovernance contribute to aligning different actors and levels in a CUP aiming to enhance public value production? This question is answered based on a mixed‐method case study of cutting‐edge experiences from the City of Trondheim, Norway, where a transformative partnership was formed in 2017. The main finding is that the efforts to metagovern the CUP are deficient as they fail to prevent it from being stuck in the middle with a tactical level that is disconnected to strategic leadership and has limited operational impact. Some remedial strategies are offered, and the future of CUPs is discussed.

Technological Citizenship in Times of Digitization: An Integrative Framework

This article introduces an integrative framework for technological citizenship, examining the impact of digitization and the active roles of citizens in shaping this impact across the private, social, and public sphere. It outlines the dual nature of digitization, offering opportunities for enhanced connectivity and efficiency while posing challenges to privacy, security, and democratic integrity. Technological citizenship is explored through the lenses of liberal, communitarian, and republican theories, highlighting the active roles of citizens in navigating the opportunities and risks presented by digital technologies across all life spheres. By operationalizing technological citizenship, the article aims to address the gap in existing literature on the active roles of citizens in the governance of digitization. The framework emphasizes empowerment and resilience as crucial capacities for citizens to actively engage with and govern digital technologies. It illuminates citizens’ active participation in shaping the digital landscape, advocating for policies that support their engagement in safeguarding private, social, and public values in the digital age. The study calls for further research into technological citizenship, emphasizing its significance in fostering a more inclusive and equitable digital society.

Digital Transformation and Public Administration: The Impacts of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure

ABSTRACT Over the past decades, digital technologies have become ubiquitous, impacting and changing the ways society operates. Immense public and economic value is being created by improving access to information and resources. Hence, many public administration units around the globe continue to focus on digital transformation. Although mostly associated with digitizing services and workflow via software platforms, India’s efforts have taken a “Lego building block approach” toward technology which can be repurposed and recombined to deliver solutions at the social level. These digital public infrastructure (DPI) blocks have had significant impact on socio-economic development. In this special issue, we explore the role of DPI in digitally transforming public service delivery and in creating public value. The issue aims to make an important contribution to public administration and digital government literature, by examining India’s DPI and its positive externalities, in particular its role in financial and health inclusion. These papers include vital knowledge that can support policy processes on digital transformation and public value creation for India and other developing countries of the global South.

Shark Fin City: transitional marine wildlife economies in Global Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Hong Kong has historically been the epicenter of the global shark fin trade. Despite this legacy, recent public outreach campaigns highlighting the effects of consumption on marine ecosystems have precipitated shifts in the market. Fish maw and sea cucumber have emerged as substitutes in wildlife markets, marking an understudied phenomenon from urban geographical perspectives. This article investigates the transitional nature of social value systems underpinning Hong Kong's marine wildlife market through interviews with retailers, conservation organizations, and government officials, as well as visual surveys of market displays. Hong Kong's marine wildlife market, this article contends, brings into sharp relief how transitions in social value systems that substitute one type of non-fungible wildlife commodity for others can amplify biodiversity loss and reproduce expressions of social difference in urban space. The article illuminates how social value systems embedded in urban wildlife markets are related to human health, aging, gifting, and relationship building. Furthermore, it analyzes how the possession, consumption, and display of high-value wildlife commodities in cities reflects classed and gendered forms of social difference. The article further examines the challenges of regulating the market and shaping public values and actions in the face of escalating global biodiversity loss.

Research on Vocational Education Management from the Perspective of Public Choice Theory

Vocational education contributes to the development of public values, with external effects on promoting social employment and achieving balance in educational structure. However, vocational education also enhances individual vocational abilities, which does not meet the standard of non-excludability. When individuals receive vocational education, it implies a reduction in the opportunity for others to enjoy vocational education. Public choice theory primarily features the analysis and discourse of political activities through economic analysis theory. Therefore, this paper, based on theories such as the attributes of public goods, the economic agent hypothesis, and government failure, focuses on elucidating the internal issues of schools, provision, and management in vocational education. It seeks effective methods to solve these problems to enhance the efficiency and quality of vocational education management.

A Grounded Theory of Christian Public Administrators’ Integration of Faith and Work

About 28% of U.S. public administrators profess to be Christians who regularly attend church. Given potential impacts on public policy and services, it is important to understand how these administrators integrate faith and work. Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study presents a taxonomy of Christian public administrators’ faith–work integration based on analysis of 30 in-depth interviews. The taxonomy’s axes are: (1) purpose—pious versus instrumental, and (2) locus—personal, workplace relationships, or societal. All participants share faith-driven work motivation aligned with public administration values. Their mode of faith–work integration varies based on perceived religious liberty and orientations toward a sacred–secular divide versus a holistic Christian worldview. The model suggests individuals motivated by theonomic and proselytizing goals may self-select out of government service. This research offers implications for public sector leaders, educators, and Christian public administrators seeking insight into how to relate their faith and work.

Mechanistic insights into immune amnesia and immunity induced by measles infection and vaccination via comprehensive antiviral antibodies profiling

Abstract Measles is a disease known to induce acute immune amnesia and immunosuppression with increased susceptibility to other infections, while paradoxically conferring patients with life-long immunity to measles. However, it is not clear if the live-attenuated measles vaccine (LAMV) induces immunosuppression comparable to the wild-type measles (WT MeV) infection, nor how mechanistically LAMV and WT MeV affect antibodies specific to different pathogens. Therefore, we utilized VirScan, a phage-display immunoprecipitation and sequencing (PhIP-seq) technology for virome-wide detection of antibodies against viral epitopes, to compare longitudinal antibody diversity in plasma samples from WT MeV and LAMV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs) (n=10 and 6 respectively, with 5 longitudinal timepoints at D0, D14/15, D28, D84/89, D112/168/176). Preliminary analysis showed that WT MeV led to more long-term depletion of pre-existing antibodies to various viral peptides, while mounting a MeV-specific antibody response with greater intensity and breadth than LAMV-infected RM. Furthermore, in our sex difference analysis, male RMs elicited a stronger MeV response than female, particularly to N protein; also a more polyclonal MeV humoral response In summary, our work provided crucial mechanistic insights into immune amnesia and immunity induced by natural infection versus vaccination, highlighting the public health value of the measles vaccine in averting MeV-induced immune amnesia.

Regional Governance Based on Public Value: Study in East Ogan Komering Ulu Regency Government, Indonesia

Background: In East Ogan Komering Ulu Regency, the concept of Public Value seems to have been considered even though it is not yet optimal, due to low transparency and accountability, and basic infrastructure that has not been fully fulfilled. To overcome this challenge, cooperation between government, society and the private sector is needed to improve infrastructure, increase participation and develop human resources, so that public services can be more in line with the principles of Public Value. Theoretical Foundation: Public value is reflected in society's evaluation of organizations, services, and programs, based on strategic principles such as Mark Moore's Strategy Trilogy. The public management and policy perspective emphasizes the effectiveness and efficiency of public services. Public sector managers must maintain a balance between service, benefits and trust to create optimal public value. Political, procedural and balance dimensions with the external environment are also important in shaping public values. The concept of public value includes strategic, political and operational aspects, takes into account the needs and aspirations of society and requires a deep understanding of the relationship between inputs, production processes, outputs, clients and desired social outcomes. Method: This research uses a qualitative phenomenological approach to understand the public's experience of public value -based governance in the East Ogan Komering Ulu Regency Government. Data was obtained through interviews, observation and documentation, with analysis using the Miles and Huberman method. Research Results: Even though East Ogan Komering Ulu Regency has adopted the Public Value concept in its governance, research highlights limitations that hinder its optimal implementation. Community participation is recognized as key to relevant policies, but the main challenge is a lack of transparency and accountability. Increasing public participation, transparency, accountability and governance is essential in realizing Public Value effectively. Further steps are needed to ensure policies reflect community needs and improve the quality of public services, supporting community progress and prosperity. Research Implications: Research findings provide valuable insights for refining the Public Value theory proposed by (O'Flynn, 2007) . It was found that the dimensions of legitimacy and support, operational capability, and substantial value alone were not enough to create Public Value in the research location. Therefore, there needs to be dimensions of participation, transparency and accountability to create Public Value. Research Originality: Public Value creation does not only depend on dimensions such as legitimacy, support, operational capabilities, and substantial value. Additional factors are also needed such as participation, transparency and accountability so that the creation of Public Value can be optimal.

Understanding value of digital service delivery by governments in Mexico

Over the years, governments have leveraged various technologies to streamline internal operations for greater efficiency and to create value through digitally delivered public services (i.e., digital services) for several stakeholders, including citizens. While prior studies have contributed to understanding the institutional and organizational determinants of government digital services, much less is known about their utilization and the actual public value they generate from the perspective of the citizen, particularly in developing countries. Some research on technology, economic, and other social divides even suggests that both the use and value of digital services are potentially limited. In this paper, we apply the Delone and McLean model, a well-established information systems theory, to examine citizens' use of government digital services and their perceptions of public value derived from such use. Based on data from a comprehensive national phone survey across 32 Mexican States with 4300 respondents, our structural equation modeling reveals that system quality is the most significant predictor of use and user satisfaction with digital services. Furthermore, use and user satisfaction lead to public value as measured by the conveniences, flexibilities, and process simplifications the system affords. Our study contributes to digital government literature by using the concept of public value as a measure of digital government services' impact and success from the perspective of the citizens.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS IN THE COORDINATES OF THE UNITY OF SOCIAL, STATE AND EUROPEAN VALUES

The article reveals the theoretical and methodological foundations of vocational education of future specialists in the context of combining public and state (national) and European values. The factors that influence the effectiveness of professional education of future specialists are determined. It is argued that professional and value-based education is a consistent, dialectical movement of applicants for professional, vocational higher and higher education towards the goal voluntarily accepted by them, and the result of this movement is the acquisition by the future specialist of a system of national and European values and ideals, the expansion of his spiritual needs and interests, socially valuable motives, enrichment of the emotional sphere, moral and aesthetic feelings, the ability to empathize, mastering applied professional skills, habits, experience, self-reflection. The system of public and state (national) values is distinguished: unity, dignity, identity, freedom and European values, of which there are more than fifteen according to the documents of the European Union, among which the fundamental ones are: freedom, responsibility, democracy, law, etc. The article substantiates the content, forms and innovative methods of educating future specialists in social, state and European values.

AI-Inclusivity in Healthcare: Motivating an Institutional Epistemic Trust Perspective.

This paper motivates institutional epistemic trust as an important ethical consideration informing the responsible development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies (or AI-inclusivity) in healthcare. Drawing on recent literature on epistemic trust and public trust in science, we start by examining the conditions under which we can have institutional epistemic trust in AI-inclusive healthcare systems and their members as providers of medical information and advice. In particular, we discuss that institutional epistemic trust in AI-inclusive healthcare depends, in part, on the reliability of AI-inclusive medical practices and programs, its knowledge and understanding among different stakeholders involved, its effect on epistemic and communicative duties and burdens on medical professionals and, finally, its interaction and alignment with the public's ethical values and interests as well as background sociopolitical conditions against which AI-inclusive healthcare systems are embedded. To assess the applicability of these conditions, we explore a recent proposal for AI-inclusivity within the Dutch Newborn Screening Program. In doing so, we illustrate the importance, scope, and potential challenges of fostering and maintaining institutional epistemic trust in a context where generating, assessing, and providing reliable and timely screening results for genetic risk is of high priority. Finally, to motivate the general relevance of our discussion and case study, we end with suggestions for strategies, interventions, and measures for AI-inclusivity in healthcare more widely.

Stuck between group and transgression

Abstract This study examines how politicians navigate the challenge of publicly condemning transgressions committed by members of their in-group. Examining ten transgressions committed by Israeli political actors which attracted public attention, the study engages in a discourse analysis of politicians’ posts, illustrating eight discursive strategies for coping with this challenge. It utilizes Du Bois’ stance triangle to illustrate how politicians navigate conflicting affiliations to their in-group and to public values. While certain types of in-group condemnations illustrate an adherence to public values at the expense of group cohesion, other types of downgraded condemnations demonstrate how group affiliation trumps value-affiliation. The study illustrates that the prevalence of downgraded in-group condemnations is indicative of extreme polarization at the expense of “statism”–an increasing trend in Israel in recent years.

Governing hybrid organisations: Lessons from the provision of local sports facility services in 2020s Finland

AbstractThe Finnish welfare society is based on strong public and civic sectors with an emerging private sector. In the context of sports, the public sector's statutory task has been to provide opportunities and facilities for citizens, whereas the civic sector has been responsible for organising activities. However, since the 1990s, economic recessions, new public management doctrines, and other societal changes have mixed this institutionalised setting and increased hybridity in the provision of public services. This study examines how hybridity is manifested and governed in the provision of local sports facility services in contemporary Finland through a literature review and a multiple case study focusing on three sports facility construction projects. The projects had partners from all societal sectors and, organisationally, assumed different forms: privately owned, sports clubs co‐owned, and municipally owned enterprises. The case data consist of thematic interviews and project documentation and are analysed with theory‐driven content analysis. The study deepens understanding of the mixed ownership structures, various funding arrangements, control mechanisms, and management of goal incongruency found in hybrid facility‐provider organisations. Additionally, it describes changing roles and challenges that municipalities face in hybrid settings and develops recommendations for future research on hybridity and sports policy.Points for practitioners Note that the capacity to steer the operations of hybrids in municipal services provision can be obtained in various ways which do not entail formal ownership. Deepen your understanding of the goals and commitment incentives of the different stakeholders planned to be involved in the hybrid project. Consider jointly written formal contracts as tools for managing goal ambiguity and incongruence and for creating trust in the hybrid arrangement. Examine comprehensively the resourcing of the facility‐provider organisation in the operational phase of the facility when evaluating the funding arrangements and public value creation of hybrid facility projects. Prepare to become a practitioner and the object subjected to more diverse forms of control when committing to hybrid arrangements with various stakeholders.

Let’s pack the backpack together: rethinking routines in public innovation as interactions and public value creation

ABSTRACT Routines are an essential aspect of innovation processes as all new ideas must be implemented into daily routines to work. Previously, public management theory has understood routines as barriers to innovation that constrain collaboration due to inertia. This study aims to introduce a new understanding of routines as a precondition for innovation processes. By employing organizational theory and public management theory, we investigate routines through the micro-processes involved. Based on findings from an ethnographic fieldwork study involving the introduction of at-home chemotherapy, we suggest a rethinking of the notion of routines by explicating intra- and inter-organizational interactions and value creation.

The public's considerations about implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions to manage a novel COVID-19 epidemic

In the future, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus might emerge and cause outbreaks. If this occurs, the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) can be reconsidered. Consideration of the potential benefits and harms of implementing NPIs, and ultimately deciding about implementing NPIs, is currently mainly executed by experts and governments. However, general literature on public engagement suggests that integrating public perspectives into decision-making can enhance the quality of decisions and foster greater public understanding of them. In this study, a deliberative mini-public was conducted to integrate this public perspective. The aim was to elicit public considerations regarding non-pharmaceutical interventions by asking a diverse group of citizens to participate as decision-makers and convene, learn and deliberate about implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions during a hypothetical outbreak of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. Participants emphasized the importance of early implementation during the outbreak, to prevent exceeding healthcare capacity, long-term mental health issues, educational deficits, and bankruptcies. Additionally, participants stressed taking public support into account, and shared ideas on maintaining support. Furthermore, participants wanted to give citizens personal responsibility and freedom in making their own assessment regarding adherence to interventions and how much risk of infection they would be willing to accept. Participants also expressed the need for the government to adopt a learning attitude towards improvements in pandemic response, and to generate more focus on long-term strategies. The deliberative mini-public, revealed public considerations that reflected public values and needs. These considerations might be helpful in better aligning epidemic management policies with public perspectives. Regarding the deliberative mini-public, uncertainties remain about the design and impact on a bigger scale.

Cakes and ale: the role of culture in the new municipalism

ABSTRACT The rise of ‘new municipalism’ – imaginative and renascent projects of local organization and government – has been occasioned by resourceful efforts on the part of local states and civil societies, responding to the intensified pressures of austerity, the global pandemic and a crisis of public value. Yet, despite the expansion internationally of an array of municipal initiatives, there appears (as yet) no significant role for culture and the cultural industries, and certainly this is the case in the UK. This review article suggests some possible reasons why UK municipalism might lack something of a cultural contribution or presence, before outlining the potential benefits that could be gained through development of both a “pragmatic” and “managed” – as well as more “radical” – integration of arts and culture into new municipal projects.

New development: Understanding the relationship between public sector consulting and public value destruction—An epistemic learning perspective

IMPACT Attempts to professionalize public service delivery have resulted in the proliferation of private consultants in the public sector with the aim of increasing public value. With the majority of research focusing on the determinants of public sector consultants’ performance outcomes, few have analysed the relationship between public sector consulting and public value—especially public value destruction. The authors address this gap by theoretically positioning public sector consulting as an epistemic learning process. A new framework is developed that distinguishes between non-deliberate failures (value destruction by omission), and deliberate deontological failures (value destruction by commission) across different approaches to public value. Several strategies are outlined for practitioners—policy-makers and civil servants—to better administer public sector consulting as a learning process.

The Role of Personal Values in Shaping Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Public Health Officials During a Global Pandemic

Major environmental jolts can prompt individuals to critically evaluate their personal view of the legitimacy (i.e., propriety) of established authorities, especially when jolts amplify conflicts between the authority and individuals’ value priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic constituted a major jolt that highlighted both clashes and alignment between the values of public health officials (enhancement of health and disease prevention) and other basic values. Using data from a survey of 1,356 U.S. adults collected in spring 2022, I descriptively assess whether the pandemic jolt prompted individuals to critically evaluate the legitimacy of public health officials. I then investigate how basic values that aligned and clashed with public health values during the pandemic shaped assessments of public health officials’ propriety two years into the pandemic as well as intentions to comply with them in a future health crisis. Descriptive findings reveal that individuals actively assessed public health legitimacy during the pandemic. Other analyses demonstrate how value (mis)alignment affects evaluations of the propriety of public health officials. Values also operate through propriety assessments to influence future compliance intentions, providing insight into social psychological processes undergirding institutional endurance and change.

Integrating philosophical perspectives into the study of public administration: The contribution of Critical Realism to understanding public value

Philosophical thought may provide an important contribution to the development of the theory and practice of public administration (PA). Notwithstanding such potential, however, philosophical thought has so far been limitedly employed in PA studies. To the extent philosophy has been brought into PA, three philosophies have been mainly used: Pragmatism, strands of Relativism-Constructivism, and Positivism. This paper argues that another philosophical approach can and ought to be considered much more systematically for application to foundational issues in PA studies, namely Critical Realism. The potential of this philosophical perspective is deployed to shed new light on key issues in the theory and practice of public value governance and management, a major area of academic investigation and practical application in the field of public administration and public management.