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Red Tape, Organizational Performance, and Employee Outcomes: Meta‐analysis, Meta‐regression, and Research Agenda
Author(s) -
George Bert,
Pandey Sanjay K.,
Steijn Bram,
Decramer Adelien,
Audenaert Mieke
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.13327
Subject(s) - meta analysis , meta regression , regression analysis , public relations , psychology , marketing , business , political science , medicine , statistics , mathematics
Although there is consensus among scholars that red tape has negative consequences, there is a lack of synthesis on these negative effects. We conduct a meta‐analysis and meta‐regression of public administration evidence and ask: What is the impact of red tape on organizational performance and employee outcomes, and which conditions moderate this impact? Our meta‐analysis finds that red tape has a significant, negative, and small‐to‐medium impact on both organizational performance and employee outcomes. Meta‐regression shows that red tape imposed by the organization itself is more harmful than red tape imposed by external parties. Moreover, red tape's negative impact remains quite stable across sectors, administrative traditions, and research methods. In conclusion, an agenda for future public administration research on red tape is presented. We recommend that future research syntheses on red tape include research on concepts that bear a family resemblance (e.g., sludge, administrative burden) and also encourage analyses of differing discourses to identify common themes.