Burden Tolerance: Developing a Validated Measurement Instrument across Seven Countries

Abstract

The emergence of the administrative burden literature has generated new theoretical, conceptual and empirical knowledge. However, the accumulation of comparable knowledge is limited by the lack of validated measurement of core concepts. This paper validates a four-item scale of burden tolerance, i.e., people’s acceptance of state actions that impose administrative burdens on citizens and residents inter-acting with government, using data from seven countries and 12 surveys. We illustrate the usefulness of the scale by examining its correlates. Burden tolerance varies substantially across the countries examined, but is generally higher for males, young adults, less well educated, those with good health, those who trust state actors more, and ideological conservatives. We demonstrate how the scale can be adapted to specific policy areas and that our generic scale correlates highly with the tolerance for burdens in such diverse domains as income supports, health insurance, passport renewals, and small business licensing.

Keywords: Administrative burden, Burden tolerance, Scale development, Comparative public administration

JEL Classification: C83, I30, I18