Computers as a Public Management Decision Tool: An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Cost and Access on Information Choice

A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of computer cost and access on the selection of information for a public management decision. Subjects were asked to make a decision regarding the adoption of a flextime innovation for a social services agency. Ten different sets of information (half on a computer, half in conventional hardcopy form) were available to the subjects. In addition to a control group, subjects were divided into three treatment groups where cost of the information sets and difficulty of access to the computer-based media were manipulated. The researchers found that increased cost substantially diminished the choice of computer-based information but increased difficulty of access had only a modest effect. Increased cost also led to the selection of a more diverse set of information. Access difficulty resulted in decreased confidence in the decision.