How Public Officials Perceive Algorithmic Discretion: A Study of Status Quo Bias in Policing.
Algorithms are disrupting established decision‐making practices in public administration. A key area of interest lies in algorithmic discretion or how public officials use algorithms to exercise discretion. The article develops a framework to explain algorithmic discretion by drawing on status quo b...
| Published in: | Public Administration Review Vol. 85; no. 5; pp. 1385 - 1398 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Sep/Oct2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=187618158&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 187618158 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00333352 PBA jtl: Public Administration Review issn: 00333352 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep/Oct2025 vid: 85 iid: 5 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 187618158 10.1111/puar.13957 ppf: 1385 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P size: 536KB tig: atl: How Public Officials Perceive Algorithmic Discretion: A Study of Status Quo Bias in Policing. aug: au: Afzal, Muhammad Panagiotopoulos, Panos affil: School of Business & Management, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK su: Police Resistance to change Public officers Cognitive bias Switching costs Rational-legal authority Statistical decision making Loss aversion sug: subj: Police Resistance to change Public officers Federal police services Provincial police services Municipal police services Police Protection Cognitive bias Switching costs Rational-legal authority Statistical decision making Loss aversion keyword: algorithmic discretion policing status quo bias algorithmic discretion policing status quo bias ab: Algorithms are disrupting established decision‐making practices in public administration. A key area of interest lies in algorithmic discretion or how public officials use algorithms to exercise discretion. The article develops a framework to explain algorithmic discretion by drawing on status quo bias theory and bureaucratic discretion. A study with police officers in the UK shows that—while officers still value their discretion—it is resistance via the aspects of status quo bias that accounts for a more substantial explanation. Transition costs, loss aversion, and performance uncertainty determine resistance and, in turn, reluctance to delegate discretion to algorithms. The study contributes to public administration research that demonstrates the influence of cognitive biases in the increasing use of algorithms in areas like policing. The article concludes with recommendations for embedding algorithmic discretion into the professional development of public officials to mitigate sources of status quo bias. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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