Toward a theory of behavioral public administration

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Oliver Kasdan
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Utility Maximization ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Herbert Simon ◽  
Policy Compliance ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Alternative Approaches

The connection between public administration and behavioral economics goes back to Herbert Simon, who recognized the tension between the institutional demands of rational efficiency and the reality of individuals’ alternate objectives. There is now a concentrated research push at the intersection of behavioral economics and governance, following recently publicized evidence of favorable synergies. Public administration can use behavioral economics in a variety of implementations, from boosting public service motivation to improving policy compliance. This article reviews the current discourse on the development of behavioral public administration, describes some dominant concepts currently being applied, and then offers a framework with propositions for a theory of behavioral public administration in order to enable further experimental inquiry and inform better governance. Points for practitioners Behavioral public administration is a developing theory that may enable practitioners to employ alternative approaches to policy design and implementation. Using concepts of behavioral economics that describe individual decision-making with alternative objectives to traditional utility maximization, behavioral public administration shifts the reliance on traditional causal models away from rational ideals and toward actual behaviors that inhabit empirically evident biases.

scholarly journals [Ir]rationality, Happiness, and Benefit-Cost Analysis: Introduction to the Special Issue

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Societal Welfare ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
The Relationship

Behavioral economics and happiness research have many important implications for the conduct of benefit-cost analysis as well as for policy design and implementation. By identifying ways in which we may act irrationally and providing new perspectives on the relationship between our circumstances and our sense of well-being, this research raises numerous questions regarding the evaluation of individual and societal welfare and the desirability of alternative policies. In this special issue, we present a series of articles that explore these concerns and provide significant new insights.

Herbert A. Simon,

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Mintrom
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Herbert Simon ◽  
Administrative Behavior ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Impact

InAdministrative Behavior, Herbert Simon proposed a science of administration where organizational decisions represent the primary units of analysis. In constructing a conceptual framework to guide that science, Simon drew heavily on insights from cognitive psychology. Since its publication in 1947,Administrative Behaviorhas inspired researchers investigating institutional and organizational practices across many settings. Here, consideration is given to the impact ofAdministrative Behaviorin public policy and public administration. Four legacies are highlighted. They are: scholarship on incrementalism in policy-making, scholarship on agenda setting, scholarship on choice architecture, and scholarship on expertise and learning organizations. Continuous improvements in information technology and its application, combined with increasing citizen demands for more effective and efficient government, suggest ideas introduced inAdministrative Behaviorwill continue to influence theory and practice in policy design and public management for years to come.

scholarly journals If you've earned it, you deserve it: ultimatums, with Lego

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Adam Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Dictator Games ◽  
Common Observation

Abstract The ultimatum and dictator games were developed to help identify the fundamental motivators of human behavior, typically by asking participants to share windfall endowments with other persons. In the ultimatum game, a common observation is that proposers offer, and responders refuse to accept, a much larger share of the endowment than is predicted by rational choice theory. However, in the real world, windfalls are rare: money is usually earned. I report here a small study aimed at testing how participants react to an ultimatum game after they have earned their endowments by either building a Lego model or spending some time sorting out screws by their length. I find that the shares that proposers offer and responders accept are significantly lower than that typically observed with windfall money, an observation that is intensified when the task undertaken to earn the endowment is generally less enjoyable and thus perhaps more effortful (i.e., screw sorting compared to Lego building). I suggest, therefore, that considerations of effort-based desert are often important drivers behind individual decision-making, and that laboratory experiments, if intended to inform public policy design and implementation, ought to mirror the broad characteristics of the realities that people face.

scholarly journals Constitutional and Legal Issues in Ghana’s Public Administration: Governance and Public Policy Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 486-499
Author(s):  
Nick Fobih
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Government

The purpose of this study is to examine some of the major constitutional and legal issues that are imperative in Ghana’s public administration. Despite Ghana’s success in promoting democratic governance over the past decades since the 1992 transition, numerous constitutional and legal issues affect effective policy design and implementation that require urgent governmental reforms. The study discussed the constitutional and democratic theories as the basis of the work. The methodology used is based on the qualitative approach with combined sources from primary and secondary data. The findings in the study show that certain aspects of Ghana’s constitutional provisions and legal framework do adversely affect its policy design and implementation in diverse ways. The significance of the study is that the outlined challenges and recommendations will inform the government and key policy makers on the need to make effective policies in order to enhance the country’s political and socio-economic development. The study’s implication for theory is that it will inform its readers about the different theoretical perspectives on the issues discussed. The study also provides key insights into important issues in Ghana’s constitutional provisions, and the legal and policy environment, which can serve as useful tools or instruments for policy makers in the three organs of government and the bureaucracy. This study further contributes towards academic discussions on the viability of the constitutions drawn by authoritarian regimes prior to the third-wave democratic transitions in Africa, and the difficulties some of these constitutional provisions pose to making effective policies and governance, thus emphasizing the need for constitutional reviews.

Behavioral Public Administration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Tummers
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Choice Overload ◽  
Herbert Simon ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
Micro Foundations

Behavioral public administration is an interdisciplinary research field that studies public administration topics by connecting insights from public administration with psychology and, more broadly, the behavioral sciences. Behavioral public administration scholars study important public problems such as discrimination, corruption, and burnout. Various public administration scholars—including Herbert Simon—have stressed the importance of connecting psychology and public administration. Yet until the early 2010s, public administration did not work systematically on this connection. This has changed profoundly with the development of various overview articles, dedicated special issues in general public administration journals, and development of new journals. Behavioral public administration has several uses. First, behavioral public administration tests and extends theories and concepts from psychology in political-administrative settings. Examples include tests of prospect theory and the choice overload hypothesis in public-administrative settings. Second, it tests and extends the micro-foundations of public administration theories and concepts, such as concerning co-production and isomorphism. Third, behavioral public administration scholars develop new theories and concepts. This has probably been less widespread than the previous two uses, but is nonetheless already apparent in, for instance, concepts such as public service motivation, policy alienation, and administrative burden. Fourth, behavioral public administration can help in tackling practical public problems. Insights from behavioral public administration have been used to increase diversity within public organizations and reduce burnout. The field of behavioral public administration can develop further. The field could move beyond one-shot single studies and aim to build cumulative knowledge. This can be done via large-scale collaborations and replications. In addition, it is also beneficial if behavioral public administration scholars broaden their methodological toolkit to answer different kinds of research questions. It should not only focus on causal inference questions but also on questions concerning description of societal problems (e.g. via representative surveys) or concerning prediction (e.g. by using machine learning).

The Effect of Public Office Values on Government Trust: Focusing on the Effects of Regulating the Level of Citizenship

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Nam-Sik Yun ◽  
Seok-Kee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Office ◽  
Institute Of Public Administration ◽  
Service Value ◽  
Korean Government ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
The Impact

Background/Objectives: The study discussed the impact of citizens' perceptions of public office values of integrity, accountability, and fairness, based on the view that government trust is centered on the citizens' perception of the value of public office.  Methods/Statistical analysis: The data was based on a 2017 survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration on the perception of corruption in the Korean government sector. The study included 1,000 people and was conducted through a survey public service value, citizenship level and government trust. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 and AMOS 22.0 program.

The Effect of Public Office Values on Government Trust: Focusing on the Effects of Regulating the Level of Citizenship

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (8) ◽  
pp. 366-374
Author(s):  
Nam-Sik Yun ◽  
Seok-Kee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Office ◽  
Institute Of Public Administration ◽  
Service Value ◽  
Korean Government ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
The Impact

The study discussed the impact of citizens' perceptions of public office values of integrity, accountability, and fairness, based on the view that government trust is centered on the citizens' perception of the value of public office. Methods/Statistical analysis: The data was based on a 2017 survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration on the perception of corruption in the Korean government sector. The study included 1,000 people and was conducted through a survey public service value, citizenship level and government trust. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 and AMOS 22.0 program.

PREPARING PUBLIC SERVANTS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: ARCHETYPAL APPROACH

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
pp. 255-263
Author(s):  
Oleh Ivanovich Rohulskyi
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
German Model ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
A Chain ◽  
The Individual

The article describes the main components of the institutional framework of an archetypical approach to public administration. It is determined that the system of preparation of public servants is based on a chain of universal foundations of archetype, in particular, it is influenced by the principle of formation of personnel in the public service, formed on the basis of public opinion. Based on two basic principles relating to admission to public service, three basic models of training civil servants in the European country are defined: German. French and Anglo-Saxon. We analyze each of the models and define the archetypes that influenced their formation and development. The advantages of each model are determined, in particular, the benefits are: the German model of training managers is the balancing between the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that a public servant receives during training, but as a disadvantage one can distinguish the orientation of preparation for legal orientation, which limits the ability to hold managerial positions for many employees The French model of professional training of public servants should include a well-balanced understanding of tasks, namely: decentralization and territorial organization of public services, communication, support of territorial communities, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the need for cooperation with institutions of the European Commonwealth, high-quality human resource management and orientation towards environmentally friendly innovations, such a model of training of public servants is holistic, costly and effective; The Anglo-Saxon model of training of public servants is its orientation towards the implementation of the concept of public administration and the individual approach to employee training, taking into account all the specifics of its activities, providing for the formation of personnel capable of solving specific problems. It is concluded that today in most European countries dominated by mixed models that include elements of different models.

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