A Systematic Review of Co-Creation and Co-Production: Embarking on the social innovation journey

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of 122 articles and books (1987–2013) of co-creation/co-production with citizens in public innovation. It analyses (a) the objectives of co-creation and co-production, (b) its influential factors and (c) the outcomes of co-creation and co-production processes. It shows that most studies focus on the identification of influential factors, while hardly any attention is paid to the outcomes. Future studies could focus on outcomes of co-creation/co-production processes. Furthermore, more quantitative studies are welcome, given the qualitative, case study, dominance in the field. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle methodological, theoretical and empirical lacunas.

Key words:

• Co-creation
• co-production
• public-sector innovation
• social innovation
• systematic review

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In order to conclude our research and to complete our database of relevant records, we have consulted a number of experts in the field of co-creation/co-production. The consulted experts are Prof. Tony Bovaird of the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom); Prof. Taco Brandsen of the Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands); Prof. Victor Pestoff of the Institute for Civil Society Studies, in Ersta-Sköndal University College, Stockholm (Sweden); Prof. Stephen Osborne of the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom); and, Prof. Bram Verschuere of the University of Gent (Belgium). We are very thankful for their contributions.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme [320090] (Project Learning from Innovation in Public Sector Environments, LIPSE), Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. LIPSE is a research program under the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme as a Small or Medium-Scale Focused Research Project (2011–2014). The project focuses on studying social innovations in the public sector (www.lipse.org).