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Previous literature on co-production tends to position the professional as engaging in core service delivery activities, while the citizen co-producer may contribute to either complementary or core tasks. Bringing together insights from the literature on co-production and the facilitation of citizen initiatives, I present a typology of the complementary tasks undertaken by professionals, focusing on professionals who work for third sector organisations. Based on an analysis of qualitative data, I posit that third sector professionals may undertake three categories of complementary tasks – training, administrative support and budget management. These professionals experience tensions between balancing core/complementary tasks and skilled/unskilled tasks, and between co-producing with citizens or doing the work on their own. This article makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of the professional as a facilitator in co-production, as a means to more effectively engage citizens in designing and delivering public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore how different conceptions of public value influence the types of co-production that professionals undertake in delivering projects to reduce loneliness and isolation of older people. The analysis shows a preponderance of individual and group co-production by the case in England, driven by aims to create user and group value, whereas the French case emphasizes collective co-production linked to social and political value. The research contributes to the co-production literature by showing how types of co-production are prioritized to a different extent to address the same social problem, shaped in part by cultural and political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I answer two research questions: How do different models of public management define relationships between the state and the third sector? And how do these relationships influence how third sector professionals involve citizens in co‐production? I consider evidence from non‐profits in France, England and Quebec to illustrate how three varying models of public management (neo‐Weberian state in France, New Public Management in England, and New Public Governance in Quebec) structure the relationships between government and the third sector (based, respectively, on hierarchy and control, contracting and performance management, and partnership) and how these in turn impact non‐profits' co‐production activities with citizens. The article challenges the thesis that co‐production is most compatible with the model of NPG, demonstrating the variety of co‐production activities that occur in all three contexts and providing new insights into the contextual contingency of the barriers and enablers to co‐production between third sector professionals and citizens. Résumé: Deux questions sont abordées dans cet article : comment les modèles de management public définissent‐ils les relations entre l'État et le tiers secteur? Et comment ces relations influencent‐elles la manière dont les professionnels du tiers secteur impliquent les citoyens dans la coproduction des services? J'examine trois modèles de gestion publique (État néo‐wébérien en France, nouveau management publique en Angleterre et nouvelle gouvernance publique au Québec) d'organismes à but non lucratif (OBNLs) afin de comprendre comment les relations entre les gouvernements et le tiers secteur (fondé sur la hiérarchie et le contrôle, les contrats et la gestion des performances, et le partenariat) sont structurées et comment ces relations influencent les activités de coproduction entre les OBNLs et les citoyens. L'article questionne la thèse que la coproduction s'aligne davantage avec le modèle de NGP. Je démontre la variété des activités de coproduction dans les trois contextes et offre de nouvelles pistes de réflexion sur la contingence contextuelle des barrières et des moteurs de la coproduction entre professionnels du tiers secteur et citoyens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on coproduction has tended to assume a coherence of conceptualizations of coproduction across borders, and little analysis of the framing and discourse of coproduction in different contexts has been undertaken. In the French language literature on citizen participation and the social and solidarity economy, the term coproduction is little used. This paper investigates the narratives of French academics, public, and third sector actors in order to identify what, if anything, is different about the French context that explains this gap. Drawing on semistructured interviews, I identify four key narratives that distinguish the French conceptualizations of coproduction and the third sector from the dominant English language coproduction literature: (a) a mainstreaming of coproduction as part of organizational purpose in the social and solidarity economy, (b) an emphasis on formalized involvement of citizens in organizational governance, (c) the motivation of citizen empowerment and democracy over cost and efficiency, and (d) the use of the term coconstruction rather than coproduction. I argue that these narratives are shaped by the governmental traditions of France, which emphasize formal rules, hierarchy, representative democracy, and a suspicion of particularistic interests. I conclude by questioning the universality of some of the axioms of coproduction theory in the English language literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]