How Stakes Vary and Influence Crisis Decision-Making: Evidence from Local Government Managers During COVID-19

How does a crisis influence decision-making in public organisations? Crisis decision-making, by definition, occurs under conditions of uncertainty, urgency and high stakes. While high stakes are an inherent feature of any crisis, this article argues that the level of stakes varies, and shapes the decision-making approach. The literature on crisis decision-making highlights two key dimensions: a spectrum from principled to pragmatic approaches, and a range from centralised to decentralised decision-making. Based on survey data from Danish local government managers, the article finds that COVID-19 decision-making
was more principled and centralised among managers working in high-stakes
policy areas and among those more actively engaged in a central crisis management team. The article theorises and empirically tests how variation in perceived stakes influences crisis decision-making approaches.