Citizens engaging in public service provision: value co-creation or hard work?

Value co-creation (VCC) in public service provision has become increasingly influential in public administration and management research and practice, although empirical research reflecting on its proposed benefits is lacking. We address this lacuna through a study of social insurance services in Sweden. The findings are analysed based on the literature on VCC and by drawing on research carried out in the private sector, which suggests that exploitative consumer work ensues when citizens engage in service provision. The results show that public service provision entails a mix of VCC and consumer work with an emphasis on the latter.