Is Co-Production Possible? Tensions and Opportunities in the Relationship Between Public Sector Practitioners and Academic Providers

The paper explores some of the tensions and dilemmas in the relationship between public sector organisations and academic providers of training and consultancy. Developing the analysis offered by the authors at IRSPM XV, Dublin (Fenwick and McMillan, 2011) the paper considers critical factors in the relationship between client (public organisation) and contractor (higher education provider). This includes specific instances of collaboration, obtained from interviews with HE providers. These illuminate the crucial area of ‘co-production’ of knowledge and learning. It is our proposition that the rhetoric of co-production may bolster the aims of those in the organisation who seek to implement their own agendas for change, or the organisational need of academic providers to achieve their own internal goals, such as financial targets. The instrumental objectives of each party may be addressed through a language of co-production. We do not suggest that the public organisation-HEI relationship thus conceived necessarily generates negative outcomes. On the contrary, there is no doubt that tangible benefits (for both parties) may be produced by such collaborative programmes. But this is not our focus. Our aim is to illuminate the processes that are going on within this, that is, to deconstruct the meaning and practice of co-production and to identify its constituent elements and consequences at a time of unprecedented uncertainty for the public sector

Making Sense of Public Policy in a Fragmented World: the Search for Solutions and the Limits of Learning

This paper explores innovation, learning and change in an environment where the historical moment of ‘New Public Management’ (NPM) has given way to unprecedented fluidity in public policy and decision making. To begin, we examine key elements of the post-NPM environment, where foundational approaches (in theory and practice) can be challenged either by innovation or by default to previous positions: both trends are evident in the incoherence of policy responses to the global economic crisis. We then consider the search for meaning and sense-making by policy actors who seek new solutions to cope with intractable problems. This can generate innovative responses, including the growth of Third Sector (voluntary organisation) involvement in public policy and public services, or the rediscovery of a public service ethic amidst the banking crisis, including citizen withdrawal from multi-national banks in favour of ethical or mutual providers. We will then suggest that although there is a certain inevitability to the process of change in an era which has moved beyond modernist and foundationalist solutions, this does not necessarily generate positive and desirable innovation. Change may instead involve a retreat to failed responses of a previous era. It is as though a familiar script is still recited by policy actors even though the overall storyline has fundamentally changed. In this sense, entrenched learning may produce negative results even though ‘reverse organisational learning’ (ie organisational amnesia) may accord a superficial appearance of novelty. This may be readily illustrated by examples from recent European public policy. Finally, in an era where the modernist conception of gradual mastery (of the world, and of theory) has fallen away, the discussion considers the kind of analytical tools that may assist in the theoretical understanding of a changed public policy environment

Trust and the Distribution of Caution

Trust is often considered a determinant of economic performance. The exogeneity of trust, however, is questionable. We develop a model with heterogeneous agents to determine aggregate trustworthiness, trust, and output. People differ according to their risk aversion (caution). The distribution of risk aversion across individuals -- along with the threat of punishment -- is critical in the process by which trust is formed. The mean and variance of the distribution of caution have direct and indirect effects on trust. For the mean, the direct effect of caution is intuitive: societies with more cautious populations would have less trust. The indirect effect, however works through the perception of trustworthiness and leads to more trust. The net effect is, paradoxically, positive in homogenous societies. In heterogeneous societies, the reverse is true. Trust and output are endogenous, and not monotonically related across countries with different moments of the distribution of caution.trust; trustworthiness; risk aversion; caution; output

Respect, responsibility, and production

We examine the impact of the values respect for others and responsibility on productivity and the accumulation of physical and human capital for a sample of 58 countries. We find that these two core values are important and that their impact is substantial. Respect for others works primarily through productivity whereas responsibility is important to investment in physical and human capital. We also show that respect and responsibility are embedded in institutions and may overcome the negative macroeconomic effects associated with fractionalized societies.values; respect for others; responsibility; institutions; productivity; human capital; output per worker

Harnessing social media to network and share research

This editorial has been written to explore the role of social media in networking and sharing research for medical imaging and radiotherapy technologists/ radiographers

Effect of Edwardsiella ictaluri Infection on Plasma Corticosterone Levels in Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were innoculated with a new host specific bacterium, Edwardsiella ictaluri, to observe the influence of bacterial infection on plasma corticosterone levels at various temperatures. The fish were innoculated intraperitoneally. The infected fish were separated from the controls. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. The plasma corticosterone concentrations in non-innoculated catfish were about 6.15 ng/ml and nearly 5.63 ng/ml in the infected fish. The lower level of the hormone in the infected catfish was not significantly different from the control level. High temperature was a stress factor which increased plasma corticosterone levels whereas E. ictaluri retarded the response of corticosterone secreting cells of the fish kidneys