Leftmost-digit-bias in an enumerated public sector?:An experiment on citizens' judgment of performance information

Numerical performance information is increasingly important to political decision-making in the public sector. Some have suggested that biases in citizens' processing of numerical information can be exploited by politicians to skew citizens' perception of performance. I report on an experiment on how citizens evaluate numerical performance information from a public school context. The experiment is conducted with a large and diverse sample of the Danish population (N=1156). The analysis shows a strong leftmost-digit-bias in citizens' evaluation of school grading information. Thus, very small changes in reported average grades, which happen to shift the leftmost grade digit, can lead to very large shifts in citizens' evaluation of performance. The rightmost digit on the grade is almost fully ignored

Leftmost-digit-bias in an enumerated public sector? An experiment on citizens’ judgment of performance information

Numerical performance information is increasingly important to political decision-making in the public sector. Some have suggested that biases in citizens’ processing of numerical information can be exploited by politicians to skew citizens’ perception of performance. I report on an experiment on how citizens evaluate numerical performance information from a public school context. The experiment is conducted with a large and diverse sample of the Danish population (N=1156). The analysis shows a strong leftmost-digit-bias in citizens’ evaluation of school grading information. Thus, very small changes in reported average grades, which happen to shift the leftmost grade digit, can lead to very large shifts in citizens’ evaluation of performance. The rightmost digit on the grade is almost fully ignored

Kommunalreformens konsekvenser: Kommunalpolitikernes rolle, borgernes lokaldemokratiske opfattelse og den administrative organisering

This article reviews the empirical literature on the consequences of the municipal amalgamations under the Danish Municipal Reform of 2007. Specifically, three areas of research are reviewed: the role of local coun- cilors, the perception of local democracy among citizens and administrative organizational changes. First, the research points to lower perceived influence among local councilors of amalgamated councils. However, these trends have not affected the degree of voluntary retirement among councilors or the strong consensual norm of Danish local politics. Second, studies point to substantially reduced internal and external political efficacy among citizens in amalgamated municipalities. Furthermore, the negative effects seem to be dependent on the degree of amalgamation. Third, the amalgamations have had varied impact on organizational changes with increased horizontal division of the administration and the number of citizen service centers on one hand, and at the same time no shift in the use of contracting out or the use of internal contracts. Finally, the article points to consequences of the reform of which we still need to gain a better understanding.