How technological failure leads to the generation and shift of red tape and administrative burdens: an empirical study based on China’s practices

The impact of digital technology on administrative burdens is determined by the intricate interaction of institutional and contextual factors. This study introduces a framework that explains how technological failures produce administrative burdens for officials and citizens. Drawing on evidence from China’s digital governance, it finds that inadequate institutional support, weak coordination, and low digital literacy cause systems to become formalistic, leading to redundant procedures and overlapping evaluations. These inefficiencies, reinforced by bureaucratic hierarchies and digital intensification, push burdens downward to frontline officials, who in turn transfer them to citizens, generating additional learning, compliance, and psychological costs.