Citizens’ choice of government vendors: sector, trust, and information

Abstract

IMPACT: Alongside traditional public providers, nonprofit and for-profit providers are playing an increasingly significant role as government vendors in public service provision. Using the case of South Korea’s public childcare policy, where the government collaborates with organizations from the public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors, this study confirms that the relationship between citizens’ choice and trust differs in the public sector compared to the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Furthermore, the findings reveal that citizens’ awareness of provider status is more crucial for users of for-profit providers than for users of nonprofit providers. Policy-makers should consider citizens’ sector-based preferences for government vendors when designing the governing structure of service provision. In addition, practitioners need to ensure that citizens have sufficient information about vendors. This can help address any challenges arising from mismatches between citizens’ preferred sectors and government provision across sectors. As governments increasingly rely on multisectoral service delivery, citizens’ choice of public, nonprofit, or for-profit vendors becomes a key mechanism that significantly impacts policy effectiveness and reveals new aspects of governance. Using the case of South Korea’s public childcare program, where the government collaborates with diverse sector organizations, this study finds that citizens who prioritize trust tend to prefer public vendors, whereas those seeking more information are more likely to choose for-profit vendors. Socioeconomic status also predicts trust-based choice for public vendors. By focusing on revealed rather than stated preferences, this study contributes to theories of citizen sector preference, highlighting how institutional design across sectors and individual factors, such as informed status or socioeconomic attributes, shape citizen engagement in public service provision.