Breaking down administrative burdens: a user-centered approach to increase interest in active labor market programs by women.
This study investigates whether reducing administrative burdens can increase interest in active labor market programs among job-seeking women. Employing a user-centered approach, the research is divided into two phases. In Phase 1, we conduct interviews with women and a focus group with service prov...
| Published in: | Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 145 - 158 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Apr2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193631227&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193631227 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10531858 172N jtl: Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory issn: 10531858 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 36 iid: 2 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 193631227 10.1093/jopart/muaf039 ppf: 145 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: Breaking down administrative burdens: a user-centered approach to increase interest in active labor market programs by women. aug: au: Nagtegaal, Rosanna van der Heijden, Machiel Boer, Noortje de Tummers, Lars affil: Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3511 ZC, The Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security, The Hague, 2511 DP, The Netherlands su: Females Gender differences (Sociology) Red tape User-centered system design sug: subj: Females Gender differences (Sociology) Red tape User-centered system design keyword: administrative burden behavioral public administration copyrightHolder:Public Management Research Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press quasi experiment sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaf039 service take-up user-centered design women administrative burden behavioral public administration copyrightHolder:Public Management Research Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press quasi experiment sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaf039 service take-up user-centered design women ab: This study investigates whether reducing administrative burdens can increase interest in active labor market programs among job-seeking women. Employing a user-centered approach, the research is divided into two phases. In Phase 1, we conduct interviews with women and a focus group with service providers to identify relevant barriers for take-up. The qualitative data shows that learning costs were the most prominent barrier. Learning costs could be further differentiated into three specific types: learning about program existence, the specific services offered, and eligibility criteria. In Phase 2, we test whether reducing these three components of learning costs increases program interest. We conduct an online quasi-experimental platform study (N = 75,451), in collaboration with a service provider, in which we adapt advertisements to inform citizens about (a) the specific services offered and (b) the eligibility criteria. A logistic regression shows that the interventions (a and b) attract more people to active labor market programs. Although women are overall more likely to click on the ads, we do not find a differential treatment effect by gender. The findings contribute to the literature by highlighting the importance of distinguishing among different types of learning costs in administrative burden interventions. Moreover, the article shows how a user-centered design can be utilized to design meaningful interventions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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