Blame dynamics across the organizational hierarchy and sectors: how a staffing shortage and ownership shape blame for nursing homes in crisis

Does the public hold government to a higher standard than private for-profit and nonprofit organizations? Building upon behavioral public administration work on blame attribution, we also examine the role of functional responsibility and causal responsibility. We conduct a timely experiment to examine who the public blames for the death of nursing home residents due to a coronavirus outbreak. We vary two conditions: the presence of a staffing shortage and the sector of the nursing home. Regardless of sector, we find the public attributes greater blame to the management, the superintendent and board, and less blame to staff in the case of a staffing shortage. We find no evidence of anti-public sector bias for levels of blame. Findings illustrate how messaging about a shortage, a functional responsibility of management, shifts blame up the organizational hierarchy. Findings highlight the need for organizational capacity to cope with crises and accountability to ensure social equity.