Behavioral Public Administration

The research group on Behavioral Public Administration focuses on
advancing scholarship that applies a behavioral perspective to the study
of public administration, drawing on insights from psychological and
behavioral science (Grimmelikhuijsen et al. 2017). Its strategic aim is to
explore the micro-foundations of public services from both the supply
side (e.g., public employees and organizational models) and the demand
side (e.g., citizens and clients). Within this framework, the research
group focuses on a central question: how can we understand the
attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of citizens, public professionals, and
elected officials in the public sector?

The research group will be used to develop a joint research program on
the topic of Behavioral Public Administration, including international
publication opportunities and collaborations.

Methodologically, while BPA scholars have recognized the potential of
experimental designs to advance both theory and empirical insights in
public administration, the research group is open to other
methodological approaches. It encourages the use of diverse
approaches, including surveys, qualitative methods, or mixed methods,
so long as they rigorously integrate a behavioral perspective into their
study.

This year’s theme: How Behavioral Public Administration Can Help
Solve Real-world Problems?
The study group’s strategic aim is to explore the micro-foundations of
public services from both the supply (e.g., public employees and
organizational models) and the demand side (e.g., citizens and clients).
The key theme of the 2026 research group will be exploring how
Behavioral Public Administration (BPA) can help solve real-world
problems. This calls for further examination of whether and how BPA
theory-driven interventions can make government work better for the
benefit of all people. Next to this yearly theme, we invite theory-based
and/or rigorous empirical contributions about all other substantive and
methodological topics with a clear link between the behavioral sciences
and public administration. The meetings of the research group will be
used to develop a joint research program on the topic of Behavioral
Public Administration, including international publication opportunities
and collaborations.

A "Best Paper Award" will be awarded to the most outstanding paper by
a young researcher in the research group. Eligible papers include papers
authored or co-authored by PhD students or researchers who earned
their PhD within the last five years as of the conference date. To be
considered, researchers must express their interest in the award to the
panel chairs when submitting their papers. Only papers submitted by the
deadline (25th of March) will be eligible. Please do not submit your paper
for consideration of the award if you have already received it.
For questions, please contact: a.v.lerusse@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

Co-Chairs

Amandine Lerusse
Leiden University, The Netherlands
a.v.lerusse@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

Sheeling Neo
American University, USA
sneo@american.edu

Asmus Leth Olsen
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
ajlo@ifs.ku.dk

Joris van der Voet
Leiden University, The Netherlands
j.van.der.voet@fgga.leidenuniv.nl