Research

My research focuses broadly on public administration, policy, and human resource management in the public sector. My research has been published in various academic journals including the Journal for Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, Behavioural Public Policy, Nature Scientific Reports, JAMA network open, and others. It has also been cited in policy documents (e.g., Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, OECD, World Bank, Danish Government Commission on Healthcare) and highlighted in both German and Danish media outlets including prime time TV news (e.g., ARD, ZDF) and national newspapers (e.g., Süddeutsche, Zeit, Berlingske, Jyllands-Posten).

I am particularly interested in the following topics:

  • Recruiting, selecting, and retaining the public workforce
  • The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in public policy and government
  • The motivation of citizens to contribute to public goods

For a complete list, see my Google Scholar profile.

Selected publications and working papers

Recruiting, selecting, and retaining the public workforce

  • Heide, C., & Keppeler, F. (2026). How Do Strikes and Lockouts Affect Applications to Danish Public Service Professional Education Programs? A Synthetic Control Analysis. Public Administration, https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.70053 PDF (Open Access)
  • Keppeler, F., Pedersen, A. T., Noer, V. R., & Jacobsen, C. B. (2025). Attractive Job Advertisements? Potential Discrepancies between Managers’ Predictions and Preferences of Nursing Recruits. Nordisk Sygeplejeforskning (Nordic Nursing Research), 15(1), 1-16, https://doi.org/10.18261/nsf.15.1.6 PDF (Preprint)
  • Keppeler, F., Linos, E., Sciepura, B., Lacey, K., Jacobsen, C. B. (2024): Recruiting Nurses on the International Market: A Megastudy (Registered Report), Working paper, https://osf.io/6pwxe PDF (Preprint).
  • Jakobsen, M., Løkke, A.-K., & Keppeler, F. (2023). Facing the Human Capital Crisis: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda on Recruitment and Selection in the Public Sector. Public Administration Review, https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13733 PDF (Open Access) 
  • Keppeler, F., & Papenfuß, U. (2022). Employer Value Propositions for Different Target Groups and Organizational Types in the Public Sector: Theory and Evidence From Field Experiments. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 43(4), 701–726. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X221121050 PDF (Postprint)

The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in public policy and government

  • Keppeler, F., Borchert, J., Nielsen, V. L., & Pedersen, M. J. (2025): How Ensembling AI and Public Managers Improves
    Decision-making, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaf009 PDF (Postprint)
  • Keppeler, F. (2024): No Thanks, Dear AI! Understanding the Effects of Disclosure and Deployment of Artificial Intelligence in Public Sector Recruitment, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 34(1), 39-52, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muad009. PDF (Postprint)

The motivation of citizens to contribute to public goods

  • Ternovski, J., Jilke, S., Keppeler, F., Vogel, D. (2025). Effects of Financial Incentives for COVID-19 Vaccination: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, JAMA Network Open, 8 (2), e2458542. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.58542 PDF (Open Access)
  • Jilke, S., Keppeler, F., Ternovski, J., Vogel, D., & Yoeli, E. (2024). Policy Makers Believe Money Motivates More Than It Does. Nature Scientific Reports, 14(1), 1901. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51590-x PDF (Open Access)
  • Keppeler, F., Sievert, M., & Jilke, S. (2022): How Local Government Vaccination Campaigns Can Increase Intention to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19: A Field Experiment on Psychological Ownership, in Behavioural Public Policy. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2022.16 PDF (Open Access)