The distributive effects of administrative burdens on decision-making

Administrative burdens may discourage people, especially vulnerable groups, from acting in their own best interest. Most survey experiments focus on attitudes around burdens, while case studies and field interventions analyse specific policies. We test the distributive effects of administrative burdens on decision-making, using a pre-registered survey experiment with a diverse UK sample (n = 2,243). Participants are shown two scenarios, claiming a government benefit and a phone bill refund. They are randomly assigned to low or high-burden versions of each scenario. High-burden versions involve a lengthy process or an unpleasant interaction for the benefit claim. For the refund claim, they involve added complexity or delays. Participants report being significantly less likely to complete a claim when the burden is high. Older participants, those with health issues, and those with low financial well-being are more likely than others to complete the low-burden benefit task, but they are more negatively affected by higher burdens (though not always significantly so). This study shows that administrative burdens negatively impact decisions, even in hypothetical scenarios which may under-estimate effects; that some groups may be especially affected; and that survey experiments can be used to pre-test policies by assessing potential burdens and their distributive impact.