Effects of contracting out public services on perceptions of burdensome experiences and policy feedback effects

• In Event: The Trade-Offs of Contracting in the Public Sector

Abstract

Background: Understanding how citizens experience the state through policy implementation is critical to the field of public administration. These experiences shape citizens' overall attitudes toward government. Literature on policy feedback effects suggests that interactions with public policy and administrative processes can either reinforce negative attitudes toward the state, reducing political participation, or strengthen positive attitudes, thereby enhancing trust and voluntary compliance (Campbell, 2012; Mettler, 2002; Moynihan & Soss, 2014). However, less is known about how citizens respond to these administrative burdens when imposed by private sector providers. To what extent do negative perceptions of administrative burdens arise because these burdens are attributed to the public sector, inherently viewed as inferior, rather than from the experience of burden itself, irrespective of the provider? Are individuals more tolerant of burdens when these are perceived to originate from the private sector? How might individual characteristics moderate this relationship? The objective of this study is to understand the intersectional effects of contracting out and administrative burdens on individuals' burden perception and policy feedback effects.

Method: To explore these questions, this study utilizes a 2×2 factorial survey experiment. The survey was conducted on the CloudResearch Engage platform with 1,000 US representative adults. The survey is divided into two sections. In the first section, participants are randomly assigned to different service provider cues (public vs. private). In the second section, participants are randomly assigned to one of two Medicaid enrollment forms (low burden vs. high burden) and asked to fill out the form within a limited time to simulate real administrative experiences. Upon completion of the form, we ask questions to measure perceived burdens and policy feedback effects, focusing on political engagement and policy attitudes. To test the effects of the treatments, this study used ANOVA and OLS regression.

Preliminary results: We found that the public–low burden group reported the lowest perceived burdens, followed by the private–low burden, public–high burden, and private–high burden groups, respectively. These results suggest that when the level of burden is held constant, participants perceive greater burdens when the service provider is a private actor. In addition, the study demonstrates that participants exposed to the private provider cue expressed higher favorability toward Medicaid programs and greater voting intentions.

Authors

• Soyun Jeong, University of Hawaii
  Presenting Author

• Ashley M Fox
  Non-Presenting Co-Author