Benefits, blame, and budgets: Citizen responses to cutback management strategies in public education

Xu, Xiaoyang, Meier, Kenneth J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-0855 and Flink, Carla 2025. Benefits, blame, and budgets: Citizen responses to cutback management strategies in public education. International Public Management Journal 10.1080/10967494.2025.2482611

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Abstract

Public organizations derive value, such as positive public perceptions, from good performance. In this study, we assess if above average organizational performance can help preserve agency evaluations when facing a negative event—a budget deficit. In the context of K-12 education, we examine how blame for a budget deficit and cutback management strategies influence public evaluations of high and low performing school districts. Through an online survey experiment, we find that respondents attribute the overall performance of a district to test scores, not blame for a deficit or budget strategy that the district selected. Findings show fiscal management evaluations are lower when the district is to blame for a deficit and there are cuts to personnel to balance the budget. Higher performance does yield more favorable ratings when the blame for the deficit is on other organizations.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1096-7494
Date of Acceptance:	17 March 2025
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2025 13:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178914

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