Understanding public and private value: the case of carbon reduction projects in Edinburgh
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Date
02/12/2021Item status
Restricted AccessEmbargo end date
02/12/2022Author
Cui, Tie
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Abstract
Arguably, the research of public value and private value constitutes an
essential foundation for both the academic study and practical reform of public
management in recent decades. Yet, paradoxically, both concepts are
characterised by extremely vague definitions. Also, the relationship between
public value and private value objectives, especially their potential intertension in a given setting, has drawn remarkably little attention. This thesis
aims at addressing these two critical research gaps.
The empirical research for this thesis is undertaken within a special and
previously ignored context, city-scale carbon reduction projects. These
projects target mitigating climate change, a major threat to the future
generation, and require the efforts made by agencies and individuals
presently. In this regard, carbon reduction projects typically involve the
potential creation of public value in the future, but often through the reduction
of private value at present. Therefore, they serve as the appropriate cases to
investigate diversified value objectives and complex value balance. In
particular, the author asked the three following research questions: How are
carbon reduction projects conducted at the city-scale? What are the meanings
of public and private value in city-scale carbon reduction projects? And how
do public and private value interact in city-scale carbon reduction projects?
Guided by qualitative case study methodology, this thesis encompasses four
embedded case studies in Edinburgh (Scotland). The research findings are
drawn from 18-month fieldwork, which assembled an extensive database
incorporating interviews with policymakers, public managers, and respondents
from a wide range of social or private organisations, together with participative
observations and textual/video documents.
This thesis has generated an extensive array of research findings. It firstly
develops two novel conceptual frameworks, respectively, for the notions of
public and private value. On this basis, it secondly explicates two underlying
dimensions of public-private value conflicts, including the value
failure/destruction dimension and the value convergence/divergence
dimension, which thereby classifies value conflicts into four specific categories.
Prior to these two primary findings, this thesis also develops a process model,
delineating the deployment of city-scale carbon reduction projects as a cyclical
succession of three-stage inter-organisational couplings.
These findings are expected to make significant theoretical contributions by:
clarifying the conceptual ambiguity in public/private value study, synthesising
the currently separated research of public and private value, and explaining
different mechanisms and reasons of value destruction. On the practical level,
this thesis also provides a series of implications for practitioners. In particular,
the author highlights that future-oriented public projects normally involve a
multi-layered set of public and private value propositions, in both the short- and
long-term. Public managers and policymakers thereby need to proactively
identify these propositions, explore the links among them, and be prepared for
value conflicts that can happen frequently.