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Administrative burdens may deepen inequality by creating costly experiences for vulnerable groups. Research to date typically focuses on how burdens affect decisions in specific policy contexts, thus little is known about everyday experiences of burdens and their distribution in society. This is the first study to document everyday administrative experiences, accounting for time and emotional costs across ten domains: tax, retirement, government benefits, bills, goods and services, savings, debt, health, childcare, and adult care. Results from 2,243 UK adults show that administrative tasks are a significant part of life (one hour per day). Time and emotional costs vary by domain; government benefits emerge as particularly costly. There is evidence that administrative burdens are regressive, not only through their effects on decisions, but through their unequal distribution in society. Those in poor health and financial insecurity focus on tasks salient to them (e.g. benefits, health, debt), but are less likely to engage in beneficial longer-term tasks (e.g. savings, retirement), and suffer higher emotional costs from engaging in tasks relevant to their disadvantage, compared to non-disadvantaged groups. A choice experiment shows that (hypothetical) burdens discourage beneficial action in general, but even more so for some disadvantaged groups.

Administrative burdens may deepen inequality by creating costly experiences for vulnerable groups. Research to date typically focuses on how burdens affect decisions in specific policy contexts, thus little is known about everyday experiences of burdens and their distribution in society. This is the first study to document everyday administrative experiences, accounting for time and emotional costs across ten domains: tax, retirement, government benefits, bills, goods and services, savings, debt, health, childcare, and adult care. Results from 2,243 UK adults show that administrative tasks are a significant part of life (one hour per day). Time and emotional costs vary by domain; government benefits emerge as particularly costly. There is evidence that administrative burdens are regressive, not only through their effects on decisions, but through their unequal distribution in society. Those in poor health and financial insecurity focus on tasks salient to them (e.g. benefits, health, debt), but are less likely to engage in beneficial longer-term tasks (e.g. savings, retirement), and suffer higher emotional costs from engaging in tasks relevant to their disadvantage, compared to non-disadvantaged groups. A choice experiment shows that (hypothetical) burdens discourage beneficial action in general, but even more so for some disadvantaged groups.

Cutting red tape to improve business conditions has become a priority in OECD countries. This pilot study measures and compares administrative burdens in the transport sector across eleven member countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Turkey. The aim of the exercise is twofold: to identify good practices and provide input for national simplification strategies, and to develop and test a method for cross-country comparison. This report is published in English only. However, a French translation of the executive summary has been

AbstractAdministrative burdens create costly experiences for citizens, especially disadvantaged groups. Research to date focuses on how burdens affect outcomes in specific policy contexts, thus little is known about cumulative experiences of burdens in everyday life and their distribution in society. This is the first study to document everyday administrative experiences, accounting for time and well‐being costs across 10 domains: tax, retirement, government benefits, bills, goods and services, savings, debt, health, child care, and adult care. Survey results from 2243 UK adults show that administrative tasks are a significant part of everyday life, with time and well‐being costs that vary by domain. Benefits‐related tasks are particularly costly. There is evidence of distributive effects. Those in poor health and financial insecurity are more likely to engage in salient tasks, such as benefits, but less likely to engage with longer‐term tasks including savings and retirement. They experience higher well‐being costs, especially during salient tasks.

Abstract
This article explores non-stimulating regulatory environment that can effect economic activities. Specific focus is on the so-called administrative burdens as it has been established that administrative burden reduction is an internationally used policy with questionable outcomes. This is tested on a case study of Slovenian administrative burden reduction policy concluding that administrative burdens are mostly considered unnecessary but to some extent (34.5%) also necessary, however, as a subject of possible optimisation. The most burdensome is time spent in order to comply with regulation, following successiveness of the burdens (one following the other). Additionally,based on the case study policy, we can conclude that businesses are not well informed about government administrative burden reduction policies.

Governments apply policies to alleviate administrative burdens especially for small businesses so as to increase their flexibility and viability. The objective of this article is the reduction of administrative burdens. The article presents a European initiative applying a method for measuring the costs incurred by small and medium enterprises on finding information for performing a public service. The method has been applied in five rural areas in Europe. In this article, a Greek case is analytically described. The research results provide guidelines to policy and decision makers for fighting businesses' administrative burdens of the informational phase of public services.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- About the Authors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Understanding Administrative Burden -- 2. The Resurgence of Burdens in Voting: Race, Burdens, and Access to Political Rights -- 3. False Claims and Targeted Burdens: The Case of Abortion Restrictions -- 4. The Affordable Care Act: Federalism as a Source of Burdens -- 5. Negotiating the Medicare Maze -- 6. Bipartisan Fixes and Partisan Blame: Cycles of Burdens in SNAP -- 7. Mending Medicaid: The Politics of Shifting Burdens at the State Level -- 8. The Earned Income Tax Credit: Benefiting Business by Reducing Burdens on the Working Poor -- 9. Social Security: How the Biggest Bookkeeping Organization in the World Banished Burdens -- 10. Toward an Evidence-Based Approach to Administrative Burden -- Notes -- References -- Index

Abstract
Administrative burden research has highlighted the multiple costs imposed by public policies and their impact on citizens. However, the empirical understanding of citizens' responses to such burdens remains limited. Using ethnographic data of doctors applying for maternity leave in Pakistan, this article documents strategies used by citizens to navigate the administrative burden faced by them. Our findings suggest that these strategies are based on an individual's cache of social, cultural capital, and economic capital. Based on our data, we also theorize the significance of another form of capital for navigating administrative burden. This administrative capital is defined as an individual's understanding of bureaucratic rules, processes, and behaviors. Our findings further illustrate that the different costs imposed by public policies can be interchangeable, which may be used by citizens to their advantage. Propositions for future research on the intersection of different forms capital and administrative burden are also included.

AbstractAdministrative burden research claims that target group members are likely to experience learning, compliance, and psychological costs when interacting with government programs. We argue that the mere anticipation of such interactions may translate into experiences of administrative burden. Utilizing a large‐scale dataset with responses from 2276 Danish social benefit recipients, we estimate how proximity to upcoming compulsory meetings with street‐level bureaucrats—a common condition in means‐tested benefit programs—affect the recipients' experiences of burdens. We find that the shorter the time to future meetings, the more benefit recipients experience stress and stigma, but the less they experience learning costs. The findings suggest that welfare recipient experiences of burden are likely to fluctuate over time and that psychological costs increase as recipients have to make mental and practical preparations for complying with government demands.