Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Co-production, through involving citizens in the production of the public services, has become an important process for governments and nonprofits to improve democracy and active citizenship while lowering the cost of delivering public service (Pestoff and Brandsen 2013; Osborne, Radnor and Strokosch 2015). Co-production in the third sector involves citizens and clients in production of the public services. The implementation of co-production process is important if nonprofits not only just want to provide services to the clients, but also enhance their skills for self-sufficiency (Brandsen and Pestoff 2013). Paarlberg and Gen (2009) developed a framework to explain the determinants of coproduction between the nonprofits and beneficiary in the education sector. They find that social heterogeneity, beneficiary integration, and human and financial capacity are associated with the supply and demand of the coproduction.

The purpose of this study is to apply Paarlberg and Gen’s framework to examine the Indigenous Community Self-Prevention Against Disaster Program in Taiwan. In 2011, the Ministry of the Interior in Taiwan has passed the Enforcement Rules of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act. This policy requires the local governments in Taiwan to work with the Red Cross and residents to launch the Community Self-Prevention Against Disaster Program. Through analyzing the government documents that list all the Community Self-Prevention Against Disaster Programs in Taiwan since 2011 to 2015, this study explores the four determinates on co-production for the Community Self-Presentation Against Disaster Program in Taiwan. Furthermore, through our in-depth case study with 30 face-to-face interviews with the local officials, person-in-charge of the nonprofit, and local residents, this study explores further the integration of the beneficiary and the trust between the nonprofits and their beneficiaries. Our preliminary interviews show that leadership, community engagement, trust-building, and shared understanding are essential ingredients for the effectiveness of the co-production.

Important lessons are learned from the case on co-production in Taiwan. Our preliminary interviews show that leadership, community engagement, trust-building, and shared understanding are essential ingredients for the effectiveness of the co-production. For instance, in our case study, leadership is very crucial for empowering the stakeholders because an effective leader ‘‘give meaningful incentives and encouragement to participants.’’ In addition, trust and mutual understanding allows the participants to make a full commitment for a meaningful co-production. For instance, in the co-production process, indigenous people develop a shared understanding of what they should collectively achieve together and recognize relevant knowledge necessary for reducing disaster risk, through helping the indigenous people understand the risks of landslides, assessment of the communities’ food capacity, selection of indigenous people for emergency care training, mapping of high-risk families…etc. This study provides empirical evidences to understand the determinants for co-production in disaster planning and responses policy in Taiwan, which suffering from annual Typhoons and Earthquakes. Our in-depth case study provides insights in understanding the dynamic and key factors for implementing co-production between the nonprofits and local residents.