Kaifeng Yang, Rutgers University–Newark

Equity in public performance management remains underoperationalized despite being recognized as fundamental to public administration. Recent governmental experiments with equity indicators and disaggregated data offer opportunities to examine how distributional questions can be integrated into organizational decision-making, yet significant gaps remain in understanding the translation from measurement to actual outcomes.

This symposium addresses three urgent challenges: understanding how equity information influences managerial practice, managing implications of artificial intelligence for equity outcomes, and sustaining equity commitments amid shifting political landscapes. The call seeks both academic research and practitioner expertise to bridge research-practice gaps and develop frameworks for public organizations pursuing equitable performance.

The symposium welcomes international perspectives on managing for equitable performance across different contexts. Research using quantitative, qualitative, experimental, and mixed methods is encouraged, including critical and participatory approaches that center marginalized voices.

Appel publié par Public Performance & Management Review. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Equity indicators and disaggregated data in performance management
• Managerial decision-making and equity information
• Street-level discretion and service design
• Leadership and analytic capacity for equity
• Gaming and unintended consequences of equity metrics
• Adoption and implementation of equity initiatives
• Stakeholder power and institutional capacity
• Equity-weighted indicators and gap-closing measures
• Defining equity standards and community voice
• Political polarization and equity goals
• AI and algorithmic equity
• Technology assessment and algorithmic accountability
• Frontline worker interactions with algorithmic tools
• Sustaining equity initiatives under political change
• Equity office institutionalization and relabeling
• Longitudinal studies of equity initiatives
• Communication and framing of equity
• Policy networks and diffusion of equity approaches

Timeline

• November 10, 2026: Abstract deadline
• August 10, 2027: Manuscript deadline

Matthias Döring, University of Southern Denmark

Ayesha Masood, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Johan Sandén, Södertörn University

Administrative burdens—the learning, compliance, and psychological costs citizens face when interacting with government—have become a significant research area. These burdens disproportionately affect vulnerable groups and threaten administrative equity, particularly in welfare systems. Scholars are increasingly investigating strategies to reduce or mitigate these burdens, including fostering citizen resources through intermediaries and improving organizational design and communication practices.

This special issue seeks contributions examining burden-reduction initiatives undertaken by various actors across different contexts and levels of governance. It welcomes research investigating how public organizations, managers, and street-level bureaucrats can reduce administrative burdens, which interventions are effective, whether they benefit all groups equally, and how burden-reduction efforts are perceived within public administration. The issue aims to generate societal impact by addressing challenges relevant to practitioners and policymakers working to reduce administrative burdens.

Appel publié par International Journal of Public Sector Management. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Digital initiatives to reduce burdens, including algorithms, automation, and AI
• How burden-reduction initiatives are initiated and defined - and by whom
• Initiatives aimed at preventing administrative limbo or repeated referrals
• How do different public organizations react to and enact burden reduction strategies across policy sectors?
• How do street-level bureaucrats perceive, avoid, or create burden reduction strategies?
• How do different types of intermediaries (private companies vs. NGOs vs. public intermediaries) support citizens in their attempt to overcome burdens?
• The relationship between burden-reduction interventions and social inequalities
• What is the relationship between leadership and the responsiveness to burden reduction strategies?
• The interplay between bureaucratization and administrative processes in producing burdens
• How do administrative reforms affect administrative burden?
• Which role do burden reduction strategies play in the political debate? Is there a connection to political action?
• The materiality of burden reduction, administrative burdens, and responses.

Timeline

• October 31, 2026: Opening date for manuscripts submissions
• February 28, 2027: Closing date for manuscripts submission