Abstract: Some public services are excellent by any “objective” metric, others less so. But how do citizens view these services? Citizen satisfaction research attempts to systematically measure the attitudes citizens have about a service. This talk will explain how agencies and scholars measure citizen satisfaction, including examples from local governments in several countries. Then the talk will provide an overview of what we have learned from citizen satisfaction research, including the important role of expectations and consequences of dissatisfaction. 

Bio: Nick Petrovsky is an associate professor of public management in the Department of Public and International Affairs (PIA) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU). He serves as associate head of department and director of the Laboratory for Public Management & Policy (LaMP). He also serves as program director of the Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management (MAPPM) and led the successful effort to earn international accreditation for the MAPPM by NASPAA in 2025, as the first and only program in Hong Kong. Prior to joining CityU, Nick was a faculty member in the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky.

Nick’s research focuses on citizen-state relations (especially citizen satisfaction and the provision of information to citizens), public service performance (especially the use of performance targets), and the turnover of agency heads and senior officials. He aims for transparency and replicability of published work. His publications are in leading journals including the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and the British Journal of Political Science. Nick has received funding from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (General Research Fund) and the Economic and Social Research Council of the United Kingdom. He serves as co-chair of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) Behavioural & Experimental Public Management Special Interest Group (SIG).

Nick is an associate editor of Public Performance & Management Review. Also he is currently co-editing a special issue of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis and has previously edited a special issue of Public Management Review. He serves on the editorial boards of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, the Journal of Policy Studies, and the International Journal of Public Sector Management. He has also served on the editorial boards of Public Administration Review, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, as transparency editor for Public Administration Review, and as associate editor for the Journal of Behavioral Public Administration.

Nick’s teaching experience includes public management and organization theory, comparative public management and policy, and research design. Having grown up in Germany, immigrated to the United States, and lived in other countries, Nick’s courses typically include an international perspective.