Polycentricity: Studies in Institutional Diversity and Voluntary Governance
Co-production, Institutions, and Governance
Interdisciplinary and Applied-Level Perspectives
Giampaolo Garzarelli | Lenore T. Ealy | Silvia Lucciarini | Paul Dragos Aligica
Business & Economics / Corporate Governance
Co-production, Institutions, and Governance explores the theory, practice, and transformative potential of co-production across institutional, organizational, and professional contexts. Co-production, broadly understood as the collaborative process whereby citizens, communities, and, in some cases, a variety of public actors jointly design, deliver, and modify goods and services, challenges traditional top-down approaches in both public and private domains. Drawing on diverse social science disciplines, the contributors examine how co-production fosters adaptive, efficient, responsive, and inclusive governance structures. The collection emphasizes both theoretical and applied perspectives, highlighting the ways co-production can enhance private and public value, social learning, and participatory decision-making. Technological, organizational, and institutional shifts over the past decades have increasingly blurred the distinction between producers and users, creating fertile ground for co-production. The case studies and empirical research included in the volume testify the versatility of co-production, from local governance initiatives to large-scale policy interventions, demonstrating its potential to address a variety of complex socio-economic challenges. Additionally, the volume critically examines power dynamics, institutional barriers, and opportunities that lead to co-production, offering practical guidance for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. By integrating interdisciplinary insights with tangible, applied-level experiences, this volume provides a comprehensive account of co-production as both a conceptual framework and a practical tool for fostering collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable governance. It serves as a reference point for all those seeking to understand, implement, and evaluate co-production in diverse socio-economic settings.
Garzarelli Giampaolo (Sapienza – University of Rome) was educated at the American University, Washington, DC; Luiss-Guido Carli, Rome; the University of Connecticut, Storrs; and Sapienza – University of Rome. Professor Garzarelli's first research contributions lie in the field of the theory of the firm, modularity, and innovation, particularly in the coevolution of techonology and organization in voluntary open-source software production.
Lucciarini Silvia is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics at Sapienza University of Rome, where she teaches and conducts research in the field of economic sociology. She has led and participated in national and international research projects. Her scholarly work focuses on the (re)production of inequalities in work, organizations, and territorial contexts, as well as on public-private interdependencies. She has held visiting positions at Université Lumière Lyon 2 and the University of Nottingham, and has authored numerous publications in leading journals, including Policy and Society, Journal of Public Policy, Environmental Sociology, Economic and Industrial Democracy, Space and Polity, and International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
| Publication Date: |
21 January 2027 |
| Publisher: |
Bloomsbury Academic |
| Imprint: |
Bloomsbury Academic |
| ISBN-13: |
9798216559955 |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Page Count: |
240 |
| Weight (oz): |
16.0 |