With the diffusion of New Public Management (NPM) in the western world over the last decades there has been a rise in the use of NPM-inspired initiatives in the management of public sector organizations as well as in the provision of public services. This thesis investigates the latter and puts forward the research question:

What values determine the Danish citizens’ attitudes towards marketization? And to what extent are these values determining these attitudes?

As described in the research question above, this thesis investigates the provision of public services specifically in the context of marketization, i.e. the use of market-type-mechanisms in provision of such services.
Following a literature review of studies that have investigated the topic of citizens’ attitudes towards marketization, a theoretical framework is constructed contrasting neoliberal and postmaterial values. These contrasting values are viewed through the lens of public values thus linking neoliberal and postmaterial values to citizens’ perception of the public sector’s role in modern society.
Through this theoretical framework two hypotheses are posited: (1) citizens with a strong set of neoliberal values will be more positively disposed towards marketization, and (2) citizens with a strong set of postmaterial values will be more negatively disposed towards marketization.
To investigate these hypotheses a cross-sectional design is applied using quantitative data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). By constructing regression models using multiple linear regression analysis, empirical evidence is brought forward broadly confirming both of the hypotheses as described above.
Though the analysis suggests a confirmation of both hypotheses, the results of the regression models reveal a nuanced picture of the causality between values and marketization as well as the perceived consequences of marketization. Whereas neoliberal values appear to be more directly linked to attitudes towards marketization as a concept, postmaterial values appear in part to be tied to the Danish citizens’ perception of marketizations’ consequences for effectiveness, quality and reliability of public services provided by private contractors.