Effectiveness, efficiency, and equity tradeoffs in public programs
A citizen experiment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6364237 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kenneth J Meier (0000-0002-6378-0855, Department of Public Administration and Policy, School of Public Affairs American University Washington DC USA, corresponding author), Jourdan Davis (0000-0002-0901-1430, Department of Political Science and Public Administration University of North Carolina‐Charlotte Charlotte North Carolina USA), Xiaoyang Xu (0000-0002-5970-1739, McCourt School of Public Policy Georgetown University Washington DC USA) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 83 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1462-1477 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Administration Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/puar.13690 |
| OpenAlex | W4381492321 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 60 |
Debates over public programs frequently focus on questions of effectiveness, equity, and efficiency and the tradeoff among these objectives. Missing from the literature is whether the general public cares about these tradeoffs, can perceive such differences, and will act on them. This article reports on two pre‐registered vignette experiments where the effectiveness, equity, and efficiency are assessed relative to experimental treatments focused on U.S. K‐12 education involving test scores, equality of test scores, and program costs. One experiment focuses on equity in race and the other on equity in income. The experiments show that the general public perceives differences in program effectiveness and equity, values both, and is unwilling to tradeoff one for the other. The public cares about program costs, but it lacks a sophisticated understanding of efficiency as a concept. Inequalities in income appear to influence equity concerns more than those involving race
Actuarial science · Business · Economics · Equity (law · Equity theory · Microeconomics · Political science · Public economics · Test (biology · Vignette · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Law · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research · School Choice and Performance · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |