Role of anti-/pro-public sector bias in shaping perceived performance and fairness: an experimental exploration in South Asia

ABSTRACT

People may evaluate the same level of performance differently because of different biases. The study explores the possible effects of anti-/pro-public-sector bias on perceived performance and fairness in South Asian countries. Using a survey experiment involving a vignette of identical performance (same level of performance) in public and private hospitals, the study finds lower perceived performance in Bangladesh for the public hospitals due to anti-public-sector bias. However, such an effect was not found in other South Asian countries. Rather, the study finds that in India and Sri Lanka, people assessed greater fairness in public hospitals than in private hospitals for the same quality of services. This assessment of fairness may result from pro-public sector bias. Thus, the evaluation of organizational performance can be shaped by sectoral biases, and people may report different levels of performance for identical performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-/pro-public-sector bias
• performance
• fairness
• South Asia
• survey experiment

Data availability statement

This is a survey conducted by the researchers from four universities with a financial grant from the Norwegian government; the universities are: University of Bergen, Norway, North South University, Bangladesh, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and Tribhuvan University, Nepal. The data can be found at the following link: https://figshare.com/s/549e0ae225aaee3616c3.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hasan Muhammad Baniamin

Hasan Muhammad Baniamin is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Political Science at the Department of Political Science and Sociology, & the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University (NSU), Bangladesh. His research interests include e-governance, health policy, refugee crisis, institutional performance, and trust, and he has published articles on these issues in journals such as Public Administration, Public Organisation Review, International Political Science Review, and International Journal of Public Administration. He mainly works on surveys and survey experiments.

Ishtiaq Jamil

Ishtiaq Jamil is a professor in the Department of Government, University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests include administrative culture, public policy, multilevel governance, and trust in public and political institutions.