The Impact of Red Tape on Citizen Satisfaction: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Red tape is one of the most often-mentioned nuisances citizens experience with government. However, there is a dearth of red tape research focusing on citizens. Therefore, the primary goal of this article is to analyze the effect of red tape on citizen satisfaction. The secondary goal is to go beyond testing a linear relationship between red tape and citizen satisfaction by examining individual factors that may moderate this relationship. In order to analyze the red tape=satisfaction relationship, we have designed an experiment in which 179 subjects participated. Experiments are still relatively rare in public administration, but are increasingly seen as a rigorous and useful method for theory testing and development. We found that red tape has a strong negative effect on citizen satisfaction, and that this effect is weaker when citizens have high knowledge of political processes. We conclude with implications and a future research agenda.

Formalization and consistency heighten organizational rule following: Experimental and survey evidence

“…Using a student sample in the context of a vignette study is in line with the approach taken by, among others, Kaufmann and Feeney (2014), Tummers et al (2016) and Moynihan (2013). While the random assignment of participants ensures that meaningful conclusions can be drawn from a student sample, student samples have also been challenged as being insufficiently representative of 'real' employees.…”

Emotional Responses to Bureaucratic Red Tape

“…Participants in group 3 ( burden red tape ) were asked to complete a two‐page form for the agency. Similar to Tummers et al's () experiment, the document collected information that was (1) redundant to the demographic control variables already gathered during the initial survey (e.g., age, gender, study level), (2) seemingly unrelated to the document's purpose of allowance approval (e.g., the number of surveys participated so far), and (3) had excessive detail (e.g., inquiring about the quantity of telephone, online, paper‐based, face‐to‐face surveys). The document also included design elements adapted from our universities' reimbursement forms (e.g., a section to be filled out by the administration with the organization unit, cost center number, and project number).…”

“…Research into bureaucratic red tape has expanded our knowledge on a variety of topics, including organizational effectiveness (e.g., Pandey, Coursey, and Moynihan ), public and private sector specifics (e.g., Pandey and Kingsley ), managerial alienation (e.g., DeHart‐Davis and Pandey ), personnel recruitment (e.g., Linos and Riesch ), and career intentions (e.g., Hattke, Vogel, and Znanewitz ). The few investigations into the consequences of red tape in citizen‐state interactions (e.g., Christensen et al ; Moynihan and Herd ; Scott and Pandey ; Tummers et al ) have demonstrated that it delays the delivery of services (Bozeman, Reed, and Scott ) and imposes administrative burdens on citizens (Herd et al ). Still, there is an ongoing debate about what red tape actually is and how best to assess it.…”

More than Pathological Formalization: Understanding Organizational Structure and Red Tape

“…Borry () carries this metaphor further to call formalization an organization's skeleton, which then can become diseased by red tape. In this light, scholars have looked at associations between red tape and such concepts as organizational effectiveness (Pandey, Coursey, and Moynihan ), risk‐taking behavior (Bozeman and Kingsley ), satisfaction (Giauque et al ; Tummers et al ; Kaufmann and Tummers ), and public service motivation (Moynihan and Pandey ).…”