Commentary: coproduction of public outcomes: where do citizens fit In?

The valuable article by Taco Brandsen and Marlies Honingh of the University of Nijmegen, "Distinguishing Different Types of Coproduction: A Conceptual Analysis Based on the Classical Definitions," unpacks some of the definitional confusion that surrounds the concept of coproduction. This will be of substantial help to researchers in the field. When we undertook the first European comparative empirical study on coproduction, the research attracted a lot of interest from the U.K. Cabinet Office but did not feature high on the agenda of academics, so definitional issues were of little interest. By 2016, the situation has changed. Coproduction has become a highly fashionable academic topic, with a plethora of publications and research projects. This is the good news. The bad news is that this research is not necessarily cumulative, as the concepts and definitions used are often very different, which is the task that Brandsen and Honingh tackle in their article.