New development: Understanding the relationship between public sector consulting and public value destruction—An epistemic learning perspective

Attempts to professionalize public service delivery have resulted in the proliferation of private consultants in the public sector with the aim of increasing public value. With the majority of research focusing on the determinants of public sector consultants’ performance outcomes, few have analysed the relationship between public sector consulting and public value—especially public value destruction. The authors address this gap by theoretically positioning public sector consulting as an epistemic learning process. A new framework is developed that distinguishes between non-deliberate failures (value destruction by omission), and deliberate deontological failures (value destruction by commission) across different approaches to public value. Several strategies are outlined for practitioners—policy-makers and civil servants—to better administer public sector consulting as a learning process.