Emeritus Professor Tony Bovaird

Emeritus Professor Tony Bovaird

Department of Public Administration and Policy
Emeritus Professor of Public Management and Governance

Contact details

Address
School of Government
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Tony Bovaird is a leading authority on public sector strategic management, performance management and user and community co-production. In addition to being Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham he is a Visiting Professor at the National School of Public Administration, Brazil, a member of the Scientific Board of the German Public Administration Research Foundation and a non-executive director of Governance International.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
  • M.A. in Regional Economics and Planning, University of Lancaster, 1971.
  • B.Sc. (Economics), Queen’s University Belfast, 1970.

Biography

Tony Bovaird worked in the UK Civil Service, Birmingham University, Aston Business School and Bristol Business School before returning to University of Birmingham in 2006. He became Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham in 2015.

His research covers strategic management of public services, performance measurement in public agencies, evaluation of public management and governance reforms, and user and community co-production of public services.

He has carried out research for ESRC, AHRC, the European Commission, OECD, UK government departments (including the current DHCLG, DBIS, Home Office, DCMS, DfID and Cabinet Office), the Welsh Government, LGA, National Audit Office, Audit Commission and many other public bodies in the UK and internationally. He is a Trustee of the Local Areas Research and Intelligence Association (LARIA) and has been a member of the Strategy Board of the UK Research Councils’ Local Government Initiative (LARCI) and the Local Government Reference Panel of the National Audit Office.

He chaired the Evaluation Partnership, set up by ODPM to co-ordinate a major set of evaluations of the Local Government Modernisation Agenda from 2002 – 2008 and also led a team evaluating the Civil Service Reform Programme, commissioned by the Cabinet Office.

His recent research has focused on improving local governance through user and community co-production and better partnership working. In 2008 he led the UK contribution to an EU study into co-production in five European countries. He then led an AHRC Connected Communities project (with Gerry Stoker) on ‘Activating the 'Big Society': Developing evidence on the underlying conditions for individual and community co-production’. He was a member of the Policy Commission organized by University of Birmingham with Demos on the Future of Local Public Services. With Elke Loeffler he has written Briefing Notes on co-production for the UK Cabinet Office and the Welsh Government.

He has also directed a study of commissioning across government for the National Audit Office and was co-author (with Elke Loeffler) of the recent EU report on the characteristics and performance of UK public administration.

From 2012 he held a visiting chair in Meiji University, Tokyo and from 2017 a visiting chair at the National School of Public Administration, Brasilia. In recent years he has delivered guest lectures and research seminars at Cardiff University, Copenhagen Business School, Erasmus University Rotterdam, ESADE Barcelona, German Institute for Urbanism (Berlin), Hertie School of Governance (Berlin), Leeds Beckett University, Leiden University, National Institute of Public Administration (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Public Policy Exchange (London), Queen’s University Belfast, Radboud University Nijmegen, Roskilde University, Said Business School (Oxford University), Sheffield Hallam University, Stirling University, University of Aarhus, University of Bern, University of Ghent, University of Hertfordshire, University of Minho (Portugal), University of Palermo, University of Public Administration (Speyer, Germany), University of St. Etienne, University of St. Gallen, University of Stellenbosch, University of Tampere, University of Tor Vergata (Rome), University of Zagreb and Warwick University. In recent years he has given keynote speeches for the annual conferences of NISPACee (Georgia), Welsh Local Government Association, Wales Audit Office, the National Social Care Conference, ADSS Cymru, and the UK Association of Democratic Services and has given conference presentations at APPAM, BAM, ECPR, EGPA, IIAS Study Group on Co-production, IPMN, IRSPM, ISTR, PAC, PMRC, Speyer@Berlin and TAD12.

He is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Public Management Journal and co-author (with Elke Loeffler) of Public Management and Governance (3rd ed, Routledge, 2016).

In 2017, he chaired the commission which accredited all degrees in public administration in the Netherlands (on behalf of the Netherlands government and EAPPA).

Teaching

Tony Bovaird’s main PG teaching is in strategic management, performance management, strategic commissioning and user and community co-production. He has extensive experience in teaching on Executive Programmes (e.g. in recent years he has run programmes for Bern University, Brazilian School of Public Administration (Brasilia), Cardiff Business School, ENA (Strasbourg), Meiji University, Tokyo), University of Barcelona, Hertie School of Governance, United Nations University (Belgrade) and Warwick Business School.

Postgraduate supervision

Tony Bovaird no longer supervises doctoral students but has recently been doctoral external examiner in Oxford University, University of Durham, University of South Wales, University College Dublin, the Free University of Amsterdam and the City University of Hong Kong.

Research

Director/ Researcher in Recent Research Projects:

  • Lessons from National and European Accreditations of University Degrees in Public Administration (with Adrian Ritz and Marleen Brand, 2017-18).
  • Local government accountability and transparency in a period of financial austerity, Meiji University, Tokyo, 2017.Public Administration Characteristics, Performance and Reform Dynamics in UK (UK contribution to EUPACK project on Public Administration in EU28, funded by EU, 2016-18).
  • Support for Developing Better Country Knowledge on Public Administration and Institutional Capacity Building (EUPACK) (EU-funded, with Governance International, EIPA and Hertie School of Governance, 2016-2018) – Principal Investigator in UK research team.
  • Cost Benefit Analysis of User and Community Co-production in Balsall Heath Forum (Governance International and DCLG, 2015-16). 
  • Review Of Cork Local Government. (University of Cork, 2016).
  • Quality management: the Common Assessment Framework and new directions. (ResPA, Sarajevo 2015).
  • Research Briefing for Welsh Government on Community Governance and Co-production (Welsh Government, 2014).
  • International Perspectives on Scenarios for the Future of Local Government (Grant Thornton, 2014).
  • Reconceptualising Warwickshire Observatory (Warwickshire CC, 2014).
  • Evaluation of Recommissioning of Services for Young People (Surrey CC, 2014).
  • Evaluation and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Neighbourhood Community Budgeting (CLG, 2012-14).
  • Developing a Model of Public and Social Outcomes for Total Place (Be Birmingham, 2009-12)
  • Activating the Big Society: Developing Evidence On The Underlying Conditions For Individual And Community Co-Production (AHRC, 2011-12).
  • Partnership Working in the Third Sector: Outcomes-based Partnerships with Public, Private and Other Third Sector Organisations (TSRC, 2010-12).
  • Commissioning Across Government (National Audit Office, 2010).
  • Exploring Options for Constitutional Reform in Total Place (Be Birmingham, 2009-10).
  • Mapping Asset Management Issues For Birmingham: Total Place Total Community Property Challenge (Be Birmingham, 2009-10).
  • Developing Research Agenda into Value for Money in Public Services (CLG, 2009).
  • Implementation of Workforce Code for TUPE Staff in Outsourced Public Service(CLG, 2009-10)
  • Evaluation of ChangeUp Programme, CapacityBuilders (2008 – 2010).
  • New Models of Strategic Commissioning, LGA-CBI Panel on Local Government, Sept 2008- July 2009.
  • Evaluation of  Service Birmingham PartnershipService Birmingham and Centre for Public Service Partnerships, July 2008 – July 2009.
  • User and Community Co-production in Europe: a Five Country Comparison,French Presidency of EU, January-October 2008 (Director of UK component).
  • Methodological Review of DFID’s Country Programme Evaluations (CPEs). DfID, June –October 2008 (with Philip Amis).
  • Equity Performance Indicators for Sport, DCMS, December 2006 – January 2007.
  • Use of Information in Public Sector Decision Making, Audit Commission, January – June 2007.
  • Future Options for Local Government Structure, Lancaster City Council, Oct 2006 – Jan 2007.
  • Long Term Meta-Evaluation of the Local Government Modernisation Agenda, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, January 2003 – March 2008.

Other activities

Tony Bovaird has acted as a consultant for the World Bank, UNDP, OECD, the European Commission and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He has undertaken international assignments for British Council and DfID, including work in Nigeria, Germany, India and Italy. He has undertaken independent consultancy work for the national governments of Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland; and for the regional governments of Bavaria (Germany), Galicia (Spain), Minas Gerais (Brazil).

He has undertaken extensive development work with Boards, top management teams and political executives of many local authorities, health authorities and voluntary organisations. 

Publications

Books

Public Management and Governance. London: Routledge (1st ed. in 2003; 2nd ed. in Feb. 2009; Japanese ed. in 2008; 3rd ed. in 2015) (with Elke Loeffler).

Co-production of Health and Wellbeing in Scotland. Birmingham: Governance International with Scottish Government. (2013, with Elke Loeffler, Gerry Power and Frankie Hine-Hughes).

Making Health and Social Care Personal and Local: From Mass Production to Co-Production. Birmingham: Governance International and Local Governance Information Unit. (2012, with Elke Loeffler, David Taylor-Gooby, Frankie Hine-Hughes and Laura Wilkes).

Developing Local Governance Networks in Europe. Baden-Baden: Nomos Publishers (2002) (with Elke Loeffler and Salvador Parrado Diez).

Recreation Management and Pricing. Aldershot: Gower Press, 1984.

Recent Articles in International Refereed Journals

“Local government accountability and transparency in a period of financial austerity”, Financial Management of Local Government (Chihou Zaimu),  761: 117-129.  (November 2017, Japan). 

“Applying a dynamic performance management framework to wicked issues: How co-production helps to transform young people’s services in Surrey County Council, UK”, International Journal of Public Administration (2017, with Carmine Bianchi and Elke Loeffler). https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2017.1280822

“Co-production of public services and outcomes”, Public Money and Management, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2017.1294866 (2017, with Sophie Flemig, Elke Loeffler and Stephen Osborne).

“User and Community Co-Production of Public Services: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?”, International Journal of Public Administration, DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2016.1250559 (2016, with Elke Loeffler)

“The ins and outs of outsourcing and insourcing: what have we learnt from the past 30 years?”, Public Money and Management, 36 (1): 67-74 (2016, DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2015.1093298).

“Activating Collective Coproduction for Public Services: Influencing Citizens' to Participate in Complex Governance Mechanisms”, International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82 (1): 47-68 (2016, with Gerry Stoker, Elke Loeffler, Tricia Jones and Monica Pinilla Roncancio). https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314566009

 “Activating citizens to participate in collective co-production of public services” Journal of Social Policy, 44 (1): 1-23 (2015, with Greg van Ryzin, Elke Loeffler and Salvador Parrado). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279414000567

“Efficiency in third sector partnerships for delivering local government services: the role of economies of scale, scope and learning” Public Management Review 16 (8): 1067-1090 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.930508

“Strategic commissioning for local public services: service improvement cycle or just going round in circles?” Local Government Studies 40 (4): 553-559 (2014, with Martin Willis & Ian Briggs). https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2013.805689

“Correlates of co-production: Evidence from a Five-Nation Survey of Citizens”, International Public Management Journal, Vol. 16 (1): 85 – 112 (2013, with Elke Loeffler, Salvador Parrado and Gregg van Ryzin). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10967494.2013.796260

“Designing whole-systems commissioning: lessons from the English experience”, Journal of Care Services Management,  6 (2): 83-92  (2013, with Iestyn Williams, Hilary Brown, Kerry Allen, Helen Dickinson, Jane England and John Glasby).

“Attributing outcomes to social policy interventions – ‘gold standard’ or ‘fool’s gold’ in public policy and management?” Social Policy and Administration, 48 (1): 1–23 (2012).

“Learning from complex policy evaluations”, Policy and Politics, 40 (4): 505-523 (2012, with James Downe and Steve Martin).

 “From engagement to co-production: The contribution of users and communities to outcomes and public value”, Voluntas, 23 (4): 1119–1138 (2012, with Elke Loeffler).

“More quality through competitive quality awards? An impact assessment framework” International Review of Administrative Sciences 75 (3): 383-401 (2009, with Elke Löffler).

“In the know or out of the loop?” Public Money and Management, 28 (4): 2-4 (August 2008) (with Stephen van de Walle).

“Emergent strategic management and planning mechanisms in complex adaptive systems: the case of the UK Best Value initiative” Public Management Review, 10 (3): 319- 340 (2008).

“Beyond engagement and participation – user and community co-production of public services” Public Administration Review, 67 (5): 846-860 (2007).

 “Assessing the quality of local governance: a case study of public services” Public Money and Management, 27 (4): 293: 300 (September 2007, with Elke Loeffler).

“Civil service reform in the UK, 1999-2005: revolutionary failure or evolutionary success?” Public Administration,  85 (2): 301-328 (2007) (with Ken Russell).

N generations of reform in UK local government: compliance and resistance to institutional pressures”, International Public Management Journal, 9 (4): 429-455 (2006)  (with James Downe).

 “Developing new relationships with the ‘market’ in the procurement of public services”, Public Administration, 84 (1): 81-102 (2006).

 “Public governance: balancing stakeholder power in a network society”, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 71, No. 2 (2005), pp. 217-228.

“Evaluating the Quality of Local Governance: Some Lessons from European Experience”, Local Governance, 30 (4) (2004): 178-187.

“Public Private Partnerships: From Contested Concepts to Prevalent Practice” International Review of Administrative Sciences Vol. 70 No. 2, pp. 199 – 215 (March 2004).

“Evaluating public management reform: designing a ‘joined up’ approach to the Local Government Modernisation Agenda”, Local Government Studies, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 17 - 30 (November 2003) (with Steve Martin).

“Joining up local government research: the problems and the potential of evaluating the local government modernisation agenda”, Local Governance Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 97-106  (October 2003) (with Steve Martin).

“Evaluating the quality of public governance: indicators, models and methodologies”, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 69 No. 3 (2003), pp. 313-328 (with Elke Loeffler). 

 

Recent Book Chapters and Research Reports

“Assessing the effect of co-production on outcomes, service quality and efficiency” in Taco Brandsen, Bram Verschuere and Trui Steen (Eds.), Co-production and co-creation: Engaging citizens in public service delivery. London: Routledge. (2018, with Elke Loeffler).

Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28: United Kingdom. Report for European Commission in Project: Support for developing better country knowledge on public administration and institutional capacity building (EUPACK). Berlin: Hertie School of Government ( 2018, with Elke Loeffler). 

“From participation to co-production: Widening and deepening the contributions of citizens to public services and outcomes” in Eduardo Ongaro and Sandra van Thiel (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan (2017, with Elke Loeffler).

“Resilience in public administration: Moving from risk avoidance to assuring public policy outcomes through the resilience chain” in Thomas R. Klassen, Denita Cepiku and T. J. Lah (Eds), Handbook of Global Public Policy and Administration. London: Routledge (2017, with Barry Quirk). 

“Determinants of Service Improvement in UK Public Services: Evidence from a Meta-Evaluation” in Douglas Besharov, Karen Baehler and Jacob Klerman, Improving Public Services: International Experience in Using Evaluation Tools to Measure Program Performance . Oxford: Oxford University Press (2016, with James Downe and Steve Martin).

“What has co-production ever done for interactive governance?” in Jurian Edelenboos and Ingmar van Meerkerk  (Eds) Critical Reflections on Interactive Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2016, with Elke Loeffler).

“Bringing the resources of citizens into public governance: innovation through co-production to improve public services and outcomes”, in Jacob Torfing and Peter Triantafillou (Eds), Enhancing Innovation by Transforming Public Governance: New ideas for increasing the innovative capacity of the public sector. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2016, with Elke Loeffler).

“Researching Europeanisation of public administration and policy: Conceptual issues in differentiation and integration” in Juraj Nemec (Ed), Europeanisation in Public Administration Reforms. Bratislava: NISPACee (2016, also published in Slovakian).

Evaluation of Balsall Heath Forum. Report for Department for Communities and Local Government. Birmingham: Governance International (2016, with Elke Loeffler).

Review of Cork Local Government Report. Birmingham: Governance International (2016).

Quality management: introduction, the Common Assessment Framework and new directions. Report to RESPA for EuropeAid project. Sarajevo: ResPA (2015).

 “Managing complex adaptive systems to produce public outcomes in Birmingham, UK” in Paul Cairney and Robert Geyer (Eds), Handbook of Complexity and Public Administration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2015, with Richard Kenny).  

“Coproducing Public Services with Service Users, Communities and the Third Sector” in James L. Perry and Robert K. Christensen (Eds), Handbook of Public Administration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (2015, with Elke Loeffler).

 “User and community co-production of public services: what influences citizens to co-produce?” in Eberhard Bohne, John D. Graham and Jos C.N. Raadschelders (Eds), Public Administration and the Modern State: Assessing Trends, and Impact. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (2014, with Elke Loeffler, Gregg van Ryzin and Salvador Parrado).

Bringing the power of the citizen into local public services – An evidence review. Research Report 110/2014. Cardiff: Welsh Government (2014, with Elke Loeffler).

Community Democratic Governance: Evidence Synthesis and Advice. Research Report 109/2014. Cardiff: Welsh Government.

The New Commissioning Model of Services for Young People in Surrey: Evaluation of Achievements and Implications. Report to Surrey County Council. Birmingham: INLOGOV and Governance International (2014, with Elke Loeffler).

2020 Vision: Exploring Finance and Policy Futures for English Local Government. London: Grant Thornton and INLOGOV. (2014, with Daniel Goodwin, Abene Dadze-Arthur, Peter Watt, Catherine Staite and Grant Thornton).

Meta-evaluation of Impacts and Legacy of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. ESRC Methods Paper(2014, with  David Gough, Steve Martin and Jonathan France).

Reducing Public Risk and Improving Public Resilience: Some Core Propositions. INLOGOV Policy Briefing. Birmingham: INLOGOV (2013).

“Third sector service delivery: conceptual approaches to marrying scale and responsiveness” in Changing Realities of the Third Sector. ESRC Public Policy Seminar Series. Birmingham: TSRC and ESRC (2013).

“We’re all in this together: Harnessing user and community co-production of public outcomes” in C.Staite (Ed), Making Sense of the Future: Do We Need a New Model of Public Services? Birmingham: INLOGOV (2013, with Elke Loeffler).

“Reducing Public Risk and Improving Public Resilience: An Agenda for Risk Enablement Strategies” in C.Staite (Ed), Making Sense of the Future: Do We Need a New Model of Public Services? Birmingham: INLOGOV (2013, with Barry Quirk).

“Context in public policy: implications of complexity theory” in Christopher Pollitt (Ed),Context in Public Policy and Management: The Missing Link? Cheltenham:Edward Elgar (2013).

“Beyond the Contract - The Challenge of Evaluating the Performance(s) of Public-Private Partnerships” in Graeme Hodge and Carsten Greve (Eds), Rethinking Public-Private Partnerships: Strategic Approaches for Turbulent Times. London: Routledge (2013, with Stephen Jeffares and Helen Sullivan).

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Balsall Heath Neighbourhood Community Budgeting Pilot. Report for CLG, Birmingham City Council and Balsall Heath Forum. Birmingham: Governance International (2013, with Elke Loeffler, Brendan McCarron and Frankie Hine-Hughes).

The Legacy of the London Olympics 2012. Report for Japan Local Government Centre. Birmingham: INLOGOV (2013).

Partnership Working in the Third  Sector. Birmingham: Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC). (2012, with James Rees and David Mullins).

Oral Evidence to House of Commons, Communities and Local Government Committee on The Co-Operative Council (Monday 21 May 2012), HC 112, (Evidence heard in Public Questions 78-178, published November 2012).

Written Evidence to House of Commons, Communities and Local Government Committee on The Co-Operative Council: How social enterprises can promote user and community co-production of public services, (Co-Op 11), published November 2012. 

Commissioning Across Government: Evidence Review. Report for National Audit Office. Working Paper 86. Birmingham: Third Sector Research Centre (2012, with Helen Dickinson and Kerry Allen).

Co-Production in Health and Social Care in Scotland. Birmingham: Governational International and Joint Improvement Team, Scottish Government. (2012, with Elke Loeffler, Gerry Power and Frankie Hine-Hughes (2012).

“Capacity building and local government: Organisational responses to the need for greater human capacity”, Comparative Public Administration Vol. 11 (“Integrated Human Capacity Building In The Age Of Decentralization”), edited by Akira Nakamura, Osamu Koike and Masao Kikuchi. Tokyo: Local Autonomy College (2012).

“The future of local authorities: revolutionary, revolving in the grave or just going round in circles?” in Claudio Morales Oyarce and Faith Boardman (Eds), Public Service Reform in the UK: Revolutionary or Evolutionary? London: Public Management and Policy Association (2012).

“From Engagement to Co-production: How Users and Communities Contribute to Public Services” in Taco Brandsen, Victor Pestoff and Bram Verschuere (Eds), New Public Governance, the Third Sector and Co-Production. London: Routledge (2012, with Elke Löffler).

 “Community rights to challenge and take over services and to buy public assets” in J.W. Raine and C. Staite (Eds), The World Is Your Oyster? Perspectives from Inlogov onThe Localism Bill. 2ndEdition. Birmingham: Institute of Local Government Studies (2012).

“New models of strategic commissioning” in Jon Glasby (Ed), Commissioning for Health and Well-being. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2012, with Helen Dickenson and Kerry Allen).

“Commissioning for quality and outcomes” in Jon Glasby (Ed), Commissioning for Health and Well-being. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2012, with Martin Willis).

“Outcome-based service commissioning and delivery – does it make a difference?”  in Sandra Groeneveld and Steven van de Walle (Eds), New Steering Mechanisms in Public Management. (2011). IPMN Research in Public Policy Analysis and Management. Rotterdam: Emerald Press (with Rhodri Davies).

“Innovation in public services: a strategic management approach” in Helfried Bauer, Peter Biwald and Elisabeth Dearing (Eds), Public Governance: New Directions and Methods, NWV-KDZ: Austria (2011, with Elke Löffler).

“Community rights to challenge and take over services and to buy public assets” in J.W. Raine and C. Staite (Eds), The World Is Your Oyster? Perspectives from Inlogov on The Localism Bill.Birmingham: Institute of Local Government Studies (2011).

“A brief intellectual history of the PPP movement”  in Graeme Hodge, Carsten Greve and Anthony Boardman (Eds),  International Handbook on Public-Private-Partnerships. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2010).

“Collaborative Governance Between the Public Sector, Service Users, and their Communities” in Eberhard Bohne (Ed),  Repositioning Europe and America for Economic Growth: The Role of Governments and Private Actors in Key Policy Areas. LIT Verlag: Berlin (2010,  with Jörgen Tholstrup).

“User and community co-production of public services and public policies through collective decision-making: the role of emerging technologies” in T. Brandsen and Marc Holzer (Eds), The Future of Governance. Newark, NJ: National Center for Public Performance (2010, with Elke Loeffler).

“Performance assessment at the ‘edge of influence’: a case study in central government holding local authorities to account for a ‘thriving third sector’ in the UK” in Eduardo Ongaro, Marc Holzer, Andrew Massey and Ellen Wayenberg (eds) Policy, Performance and Management in Governance and Intergovernmental Relations. Surrey, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. (2010, forthcoming,with Lys Coleman, Dawn Hands, Les Hems and Douglas Johnson).

Evaluation of ChangeUp. Summative Evaluation Report for Capacitybuilders. Birmingham: Capacitybuilders (2010, with Dawn Hands, Lys Coleman, Les Hems, Sharon Muldoon, Sally Taylor and Mary Costello).

Reforming local government:  impacts and interactions of central government policies from 2000 to 2006. Final report of the meta-evaluation of the local government modernisation agenda. (Report to Communities and Local Government). London: Communities and Local Government (2009, with Steve Martin and James Downe).

“User and community co-production of public services and public policies: the role of emerging technologies” in John Gøtze and C.B. Pedersen (eds) State of the eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards. Bloomington, IL: Authorhouse. (2009, with Elke Loeffler and James Downe).

The State of Local Democracy: The Impact of Policy Changes on Accountability and Public ConfidenceReport to CLG.Cardiff: Cardiff Business School. (2009, with Richard Cowell, Rachel Ashworth, Chris Skelcher, James Downe and Alex Chen).

Innovation In Public Engagement And Co-Production Of Services. Policy Paper to Department for Communities and Local Government. 2008. Cardiff: Cardiff Business School (with James Downe).

How organisations with limited influence can make a difference: A literature review on influence strategies, good practices and evaluation frameworks. Report for the National Audit Office. Birmingham: Governance International (2008, with Elke Löffler and Wouter van Dooren).

The Meta-evaluation of Local Government Policy: Lessons for Future Research Design Report to CLG. Cardiff: Cardiff Business School (2008, with Steve Martin and James Downe).

“If you want to go fast, walk alone. If you want to go far, walk together”: Citizens and the co-production of public services. Report to the EU Presidency. 2008. Paris: Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Services (with Elke Löffler, Salvador Parrado and Greg van Ryzin).

User and community co-production of public services: Fad or fact, nuisance or necessity? TSRC Briefing Paper 12. Birmingham: Third Sector Research Centre (2008, with Elke Loeffler).

Basing strategy in the public sector on the concept of public value” in E. Dearing (Ed), Innovation im öffentlichen Sektor: Festschrift für Hellfried Bauer. Wien: NWV (2008).

Performance measurement in the public sector: perspectives from political economy” in Thorpe, R. and Holloway, J. (eds), Performance Management: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (2008).

“The Role of Trust in Organizational Responses to Local Governance Failures” in Brauenig, D. and Greiling, D. (eds), Stand und Perspektiven der Offentlichen Bebriebswirtsschaftlehre II (The Current Position and Future Prospects of Public Sector Management): Festschrift for Peter Eichhorn. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag (2007, with Elke Loeffler).

“Triggering change through culture clash: the UK Civil Service Reform Programme, 1999 – 2005” in Schedler, K. and Proeller, I. (ed), Organisational Culture and the Outcomes of Public Management Reform. London: Taylor and Francis.(2007).

Understanding the barriers and incentives to becoming and remaining a councillor in England. Councillors Commission - Research Report 2. 2007.London: Department of Communities and Local Government (with Dawn Hands, Sally Taylor and Rachel Featherstone).

“Politische Steuerung neu gedacht: Eine governanceorientierte Konzeption des Verhältnisses von Politik und Verwaltung”, in Helfried Bauer, Peter Biwald and Elisabeth Dearing (Eds), Public Governance: Öffentiche Aufgaben gemeinsam erfüllen und effektiv steuern. Vienna: NW Verlag (2005, with Elke Loeffler).

"Communities, Trust and Organisational Responses to Local Governance Failure” in Anthony Moran and Sean Watson (eds). Trust, Uncertainty and Risk. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave (May 2005, with Elke Loeffler).

“Performance Measurement and Evaluation of e-Government and e-Governance Programmes and Initiatives” in Mehdi Khosrow-Pour (ed),Practicing E-Government: A Global Perspective, New York: Idea-Group Inc for OECD (2005).

“E-government and e-governance: organisational implications, options and dilemmas” in Mehdi Khosrow-Pour (ed), Practicing E-Government: A Global Perspective, New York: Idea-Group Inc for OECD (April 2005).

“Public sector performance measurement” in Kimberley Kempf-Leonard (ed), Encyclopaedia of Social Measurement. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Science (2004).

“Public-private partnerships in Western Europe and the USA: new growths from old roots” in Abby Ghobadian, Nicholas Regan and David Gallear  (eds), Public Private Partnerships: Policy and Experience. Houndmills: Macmillan Palgrave (2004).

 “Emerging practices in network management at local levels in Europe” in Ari Salminen (2003), Governing Networks. Amsterdam: IOS Press (with Elke Loeffler and Salvador Parrado).

Developing Local Governance Networks in Europe. Baden-Baden: Nomos Publishers (2002) (with Elke Loeffler and Salvador Parrado Diez).

“From excellence models of local service delivery to a comprehensive concept of ‘World Class Local Authorities” in D. Bräunig and P.Eichhorn (eds) Evaluation and Accounting Standards in Public Management. Baden Baden: Nomos Publishers (2002, with Elke Loeffler).

“Public administration: emerging trends and potential future directions” in Eran Vigoda (Ed.), Public administration: An interdisciplinary critical analysis. New York: Marcel Dekker (2002).

Civil Service Reform: Evaluation Case Studies. London: Cabinet Office (2002, with Ken Russell, Elke Loeffler and Lucy Gaster).