Strategic Sorting: The Role of Ordeals in Health Care

Zeckhauser, Richard

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3413760

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…If this perspective is correct, the deliberate creation of ordeals can efficiently target benefits to the most needy (Nichols and Zeckhauser ). The ordeal mechanism perspective acknowledges that people may vary somewhat in their skills and resources when it comes to dealing with burdens, and ordeals might interact with factors such as the individual's health conditions (Zeckhauser ). But these acknowledgments serve as caveats to the model, rather than an effort to fully incorporate the role of human capital.…”

Section: Distinguishing Between State Actions and Experiences Of Burdensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions

Christensen

Aarøe

Bækgaard

et al. 2019

Public Administration Review

234

188

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One means by which the state reinforces inequality is by imposing administrative burdens that loom larger for citizens with lower levels of human capital. Integrating insights from various disciplines, this article focuses on one aspect of human capital: cognitive resources. The authors outline a model that explains how burdens and cognitive resources, especially executive functioning, interrelate. The article then presents illustrative examples, highlighting three common life factors-scarcity, health problems, and age-related cognitive decline. These factors create a human capital catch-22, increasing people's likelihood of needing state assistance while simultaneously undermining the cognitive resources required to negotiate the burdens they encounter while seeking such assistance. The result is to reduce access to state benefits and increase inequality. The article concludes by calling for scholars of behavioral public administration and public administration more generally to incorporate more attention to human capital into their research. Evidence for Practice• People's human capital influences how they engage with administrative processes. Groups with lower levels of human capital struggle more with administrative burdens; therefore, they are less likely to access public services. • A citizen-centered approach to public administration implies that policy makers and administrators take account of variation in human capital when making choices about policy design and implementation. • Cognitive resources, including executive functioning, are a form of human capital, which is key to citizens' ability to initiate and master state interactions. • Citizens experiencing scarcity, health problems, and cognitive decline face a catch-22: such common life factors make them more likely to need to engage with the state, but reduce their executive functioning, making them less able to deal with administrative burdens.

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Section: Distinguishing Between State Actions and Experiences Of Burdensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions

Christensen

Aarøe

Bækgaard

et al. 2019

Public Administration Review

234

188

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Perceived burdens of interacting with public authorities: How does it influence citizens' state‐encounter behavior?

Nielsen,

Nielsen

2024

Int J Soc Welfare

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Much research has shown that implementation behavior of frontline workers and the outcomes of public policies depend on encounters between frontline workers and citizens. However, relatively little is known about the agency of citizens in these encounters. This paper focuses on administrative burdens and psychological responses to stress as possible determinants of citizens' encounter behavior—defined as “behavioral efforts citizens employ during and in preparing for interaction with public authorities in order to master the demands of the public encounter.” Combining a framework categorizing citizens' state‐encounter behavior and theory about administrative burdens, we ask whether citizens' behavior reflects their perceptions of administrative burdens, and whether learning, psychological and compliance burdens prompt different encounter behaviors? We use data from surveys among a representative sample of 1460 Danish citizens regarding encounters with tax and home care authorities. We find that perceived administrative burdens affect citizens' behavior, but contrary to expectations, we do not find that burdens discourage citizens from engaging with authorities. Higher perceived burdens tend to prompt activist behavior. Moreover, different types of burdens affect behaviors differently.

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Strategic Sorting: The Role of Ordeals in Health Care

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions

Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions

Perceived burdens of interacting with public authorities: How does it influence citizens' state‐encounter behavior?

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