000			01670nam a22001457a 4500
999			_c523286 _d523286
008			230804b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aSievert, Martin _942294
245			_aThe limited impact of reference groups' symbolic gender representation on willingness to coproduce
260			_aPublic Administration Review
300			_a83(3), May-Jun, 2023: p.587-602
520			_aPrevious literature presents a strong rationale for the positive impact of symbolic representation in coproduction contexts. However, empirical studies yield inconclusive findings indicating that meaningful effects are limited if citizens face high levels of uncertainty. This article combines symbolic representation with signaling theory, suggesting that the representativeness of central reference groups might reduce uncertainty. The theoretical framework suggests that the representation of supervisors and existing coproducers might positively affect citizens' willingness to coproduce. Contrary to the theoretical expectations, the empirical results from two preregistered factorial survey experiments (n = 2979), situated in prisoner rehabilitation and refugee integration, indicate that the symbolic gender representation of these reference groups has a limited impact. Only a balanced representation of coproducers exhibits a positive treatment effect on citizens' willingness to coproduce. The results oppose central arguments in the representative bureaucracy literature. At least for gender categories, symbolic representation is less important than expected. – Reproduced
773			_aPublic Administration Review
906			_aPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
942			_cAR