Client Characteristics, Performance Information, and Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Willingness to Collaborate

Abstract

Prior research shows that the framing of performance data can influence the interpretation of identical performance results. This study adds to this line of research by testing how performance information and clients’ social status and behavior interact to shape street-level bureaucrats’ problem identification and willingness to collaborate in public service provision. We hypothesize that in a situation where a client has negative performance results alongside a disadvantaged social status, street-level bureaucrats perceive the client to have a more substantial problem than if the client has an advantageous background. This problem identification is expected to be accompanied by an increase in street-level bureaucrats’ willingness to collaborate with colleagues to support the client. Based on a survey experiment among 794 Danish public schoolteachers, we find that although teachers do consider client characteristics when interpreting performance data, information about performance decline or improvement appears more decisive. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on performance information use.