Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics,
Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research

No 2/2025: Better Together? A Field Experiment on Human-Algorithm Interaction in Child Protection

Marie-Pascale Grimon () and Christopher Mills ()
Additional contact information
Marie-Pascale Grimon: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Postal: SOFI, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Christopher Mills: Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame, Postal: Department of Economics, Jenkins-Nanovic Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States

Abstract: Algorithm tools have the potential to improve public service efficiency, but our understanding of how experts use algorithms is limited, and concerns about resulting bias are widespread. We randomize access to algorithm support for workers allocating Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations. Access to the algorithm reduced maltreatment-related hospitalizations, especially for disadvantaged groups, while reducing CPS surveillance of Black children. Child injuries fell by 29 percent. Workers improved their scrutiny of complementary information emphasized by the algorithm, and targeted investigations to children at greater risk of harm irrespective of algorithm-predicted risk. Algorithm-only counterfactuals confirm human-algorithm complementarity for both efficiency and equity.

Keywords: algorithm tools; human-algorithm interaction; child protection

JEL-codes: D63; I38; J13; K40; M54

Language: English

80 pages, January 14, 2025

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