Representative Bureaucracy and the Willingness to Coproduce: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Relying on the theory of representative bureaucracy-specifically, the notion of symbolic representation-this article examines whether varying the number of female public officials overseeing a local recycling program influences citizens' (especially women's) willingness to cooperate with the government by recycling, thus coproducing important policy outcomes. Using a survey experiment in which the first names of public officials are manipulated, the authors find a clear pattern of increasing willingness on the part of women to coproduce when female names are more represented in the agency responsible for recycling, particularly with respect to the more difficult task of composting food waste. Overall, men in the experiment were less willing to coproduce across all measures and less responsive to the gender balance of names. These findings have important implications for the theory of representative bureaucracy and for efforts to promote the coproduction of public services.

The Individual‐Level Effect of Gender Matching in Representative Bureaucracy

“…According to the literature, representative bureaucracy theory is relevant in settings in which bureaucrats have adequate discretion to influence the outcome and the specific service or outcome is salient to the demographic group in question (Meier , 394). However, a recent study also found gender representation to be significant in settings that are not particularly gendered, such as recycling (Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li ). This may indicate that the extent to which an area is gendered may be less relevant.…”

“…Several studies suggest that gender matching motivates bureaucrats (Keiser et al ) and citizens (Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li ) to increase their effort in relation to service delivery. Riccucci and Meyers () previously showed that both bureaucrat gender and race correlate with values that are consistent with the interests of citizens with the same characteristics, which could result in actions beneficial to the represented citizens.…”

“…The consequence of this mechanism is that citizens put additional effort into producing a specific outcome if they are matched with bureaucrats of the same gender. A recent study suggests that gender representation indeed affects willingness to coproduce (Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li ). Therefore, the following can be hypothesized:

Hypothesis 2b : Individual‐level gender matching will motivate citizens to coproduce more.

…”

“…In recent years, the theory of representative bureaucracy has been studied extensively and with great progress (e.g., Andrews, Ashworth, and Meier ; Gade and Wilkins ; Hong ; Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li ). The theory's key claim is that passive demographic representation among bureaucrats will affect active representation and, ultimately, outcomes for the citizens represented.…”

Identity, threat aversion, and civil servants' policy preferences: Evidence from the European Parliament

“…We contribute to this literature by arguing that identification impacts individuals' policy preferences by shifting the relative focus on the advantages and disadvantages of available policy options. We thereby likewise contribute to the integration of behavioural elements into the analysis of policy-making, which has recently received increased attention (James 2011;Andersen and Moynihan 2016;Riccucci et al 2016;Geys and Sørensen 2017;Grimmelikhuijsen et al 2017;Olsen 2017).…”