Neighborhood Coproduction and Municipal Productivity

Coproduction has been widely praised in recent years as a means of increasing municipal productivity, either by reducing the cost or increasing the effectiveness of service delivery. Whether that praise is warranted remains very uncertain, however, because of the limited evidence available on the actual extent and effects of coproduction. This article develops some of the necessary evidence by examining how coproduction with neighborhood organizations works in Cincinnati, Ohio. If we can judge from interviews with municipal officials and neighborhood leaders, coproduction in Cincinnati has expanded recently, but the effects on municipal productivity are mixed. Service costs actually appear to have increased rather than decreased, and service levels have increased only modestly. Service effectiveness, however, has increased significantly as services have become better attuned to varying neighborhood needs. In other words, coproduction with neighborhoods may improve municipal productivity, but only by increasing the service effectiveness part of the productivity equation, not by decreasing the cost part of the equation. In any case, coproduction has been praised by municipal officials,