Asmus Leth Olsen

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Teaching

Office hours: Tuesdays 16.30-17.30

Current research

My research and teaching centers on public administration with an emphasis on psychological theories and experimental methods. My research is anchored in the Behavioral and Experimental Public Administration Lab (BEPAL). BEPAL aims to bridge the gap between research in (political) psychology and public administration in order improve public services and the public sector's responsiveness to citizens' aspirations. Behavioral insights and evidence in the service of citizens and democracy. My research has been published in American Journal of Political Science, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Politics, Nature: Human Behavior, Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Choice, Judgment and Decision Making, Political Behavior, Public Administration, and more.

Read more about the Behavioral and Experimental Public Administration Lab (BEPAL): https://polsci.ku.dk/bepal/english/

Find out more about my research at: www.asmusolsen.com

Behavioral Public Administration:

• The historical roots of a Behavioral Public Administration as found in the early works of Herbert Simon (Public Administration Review)
• Virtual issue on Behavioral Public Administration with evidence of an increased use of psychological theories (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
• The core argument for a Behavioral Public Administration (Public Administration Review)   

Dishonesty and Selection into Public Service:

• Sustaining Honesty in Public Service: The Role of Selection? (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy)
• Behavioral Dishonesty in the Public Sector (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)

A Behavioral Approach to Performance Information:

• Reducing Bias in Citizens Perception of Crime Rates: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Burglary Prevalence (Journal of Politics)
• Experimental evidence on citizens use of social and historical reference points in performance evaluations (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
• Experimental comparison of citizens citizens selection, exposure, and recall of both episodic and statistical performance information (Public Administration Review)
• Application of the equivalence framing framework to citizens interpretation of (dis)satisfaction measures (Public Administration Review)
• Voters reliance on cross-national yardstick comparisons (article in Political Behavior)
• Evidence of a leftmost-digit-bias in citizens interpretation of numerical performance data (Judgment and Decision Making)
• Overview of the numerical psychology of performance information (Public Performance & Management Review)

Selected publications

1. Published

   Sustaining Honesty in Public Service: The Role of Selection

   Barfort, S., Harmon, Nikolaj Arpe, Hjorth, Frederik Georg & Olsen, Asmus Leth, Nov 2019, In: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 11, 4, p. 96-123 28 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

2. Published

   Reducing Bias in Citizens’ Perception of Crime Rates: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Burglary Prevalence

   Larsen, M. V. & Olsen, Asmus Leth, 2020, In: Journal of Politics. 82, 2, p. 753-756 6 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

3. Published

   Compared to What? How Social and Historical Reference Points Affect Citizens' Performance Evaluations

   Olsen, Asmus Leth, 2017, In: Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 27, 4, p. 562-580 19 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

4. Published

   Behavioral Public Administration: Combining Insights from Public Administration and Psychology

   Grimmelikhuijsen, S., Jilke, S., Olsen, Asmus Leth & Tummers, L., 1 Jan 2017, In: Public Administration Review. 77, 1, p. 45-56 12 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

5. Published

   “Simon Said,” We Didn't Jump

   Olsen, Asmus Leth, 2015, In: Public Administration Review. 75, 2, p. 325-326 2 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article

6. Submitted

   Human Interest or Hard Numbers? Experiments on Citizens' Selection, Exposure, and Recall of Performance Information

   Olsen, Asmus Leth, 2015, (Submitted) Copenhagen: Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen , 34 p.

   Research output: Working paper › Research › peer-review