Are public officials more risk-averse than private sector employees in decision-making? Interest and accountability matter.
Public officials are traditionally thought to be more risk-averse than private sector employees, yet consistent empirical evidence is lacking. Prospect theory posits that individuals' risk decision preferences are influenced by the framing of gains or losses, but it does not distinguish whether gain...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 391 - 407 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194993806&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 194993806 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: Jul2026 vid: 36 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 194993806 10.1093/jopart/muag006 ppf: 391 ppct: 16 formats: tig: atl: Are public officials more risk-averse than private sector employees in decision-making? Interest and accountability matter. aug: au: Zhang, Jinfeng Song, Minjie Qin, Zengqiang Xu, Ran Ran, Rong affil: School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, ChinaChongqing Institute for New Quality Productive Forces, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China The School of Public Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Sichuan, 611130, China su: Risk aversion Decision making Civil service Public officers Prospect theory Government accountability Philosophy of science sug: subj: Risk aversion Decision making Civil service Public officers Prospect theory Other General Government Support Government accountability Philosophy of science keyword: 公私部门差异 关键词 前景理论 避责 问责 风险决策 accountability blame avoidance copyrightHolder:Public Management Research Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en prospect theory public-private differences publisher:Oxford University Press risk decision sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muag006 公私部门差异 关键词 前景理论 避责 问责 风险决策 accountability blame avoidance copyrightHolder:Public Management Research Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en prospect theory public-private differences publisher:Oxford University Press risk decision sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muag006 ab: Public officials are traditionally thought to be more risk-averse than private sector employees, yet consistent empirical evidence is lacking. Prospect theory posits that individuals' risk decision preferences are influenced by the framing of gains or losses, but it does not distinguish whether gains and losses pertain to personal or public interests. This study incorporates the type of interest with gain–loss framing to construct decision scenarios and compare risk preferences between public officials and private sector employees. In Experiment 1 (N = 897, N = 685), using a 3 (public interest vs. public–private mixed interest vs. private interest) × 2 (gain frame vs. loss frame) design, public officials were found to exhibit greater risk aversion than private sector employees when the loss frame involves the public interest, while no significant differences were observed for a gain frame involving either the public interest or private interest. Applying blame avoidance theory, accountability is positioned here as a core factor to further explore why public officials are more risk-averse than private sector employees when facing public interest losses. In Experiment 2 (N = 625, N = 630), using a 2 (reward vs. punishment-oriented accountability) × 2 (process vs. outcome-oriented accountability) design in a public interest decision-making context, public officials were found to be more risk-averse than private sector employees in the case of outcome-oriented punishment accountability. In the other three types of accountability conditions, public officials exhibited a similar risk preference to private sector employees. These findings reveal the situational factors underlying public officials' risk aversion, and offer practical insights for designing accountability systems that effectively guide decision-making in the public sector. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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