Public Value Through Innovation and Improvement

This chapter examines why, how and under what circumstances innovation and improvement of public services may add value to the public sphere. It aims to contribute to the understanding of public value in two ways — first, by examining how innovation and improvement may contribute to the achievement of public value; and second, by using the prism of innovation and improvement to illuminate some aspects of the theory and practice of public value. The focus is on innovation and improvement at the organization and inter-organizational level of analysis (Hartley 2008).