Co-production nowadays ranks high in global development strategies of international and philanthropic organizations. Although long-standing experiences in developing countries can provide a relevant contribution to the co-production theory, it is necessary to verify what contextual and conceptual conditions might alter the existing theoretical models. This article makes a theoretical contribution by modelling propositions that can withstand logical and empirical scrutiny. The literature is reviewed to identify key co-production concepts, their interrelationships, and the underlying assumptions. A longitudinal case study is analyzed to expand the existing theoretical propositions. Policy implications for scaling-up programmes are drawn.

Purpose.\ud The paper aims at contributing to the cutback management and organizational decline streams of research by providing an in-depth analysis of the main challenges that public managers have to address in managing public spending and activity cutbacks as a response to the current financial crisis.\ud Design/methodology/approach\ud After a literature review of the field, an analysis of the activities of international cooperation between public managers is carried out and the strategies adopted at the global level are compared to the challenges and complexities identified by the literature.\ud Findings.\ud Recovery policies adopted at the international level follow some literature indications such as the clear long-term forward-looking focus and the attention to post-crisis challenges. In turn, the crisis is perceived to have politicized decision making. There are concerns that the pressure to reduce levels of staff and services poses the risk that the public sector will not have the ability to manage future crises.\ud Originality/value.\ud Much of the discussion on the crisis focuses on macroeconomic policies and the business sector. Public sector policies are a powerful instrument to overcome the crisis. The article compares recommendations from the theory on crisis management, both in the public and in the private sector, with concrete strategies adopted at the international level

The literature on public sector reforms in Italy analyzes the success of the NPM model, highlighting a relevant implementation gap and areas of reform which cannot be ascribed to the NPM. The combination of these two features may be read as the adoption of a modernization framework different from the NPM called the New Weberian State. The article reviews the debate on the NPM, analyzes reforms in Italy, contrasted with the United States and other countries. Several characteristics resemble the New Weberianism in Italy, which, however, appears to be more an ex-post rationalization than a new trend and embodies NPM-learned lessons