Understanding Public Administration and the Public Sector
Undergraduate · Online
I am a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark. I study public management, with a focus on digital governance, organizational theory and behavior, and social equity. My research examines the consequences of technological and organizational changes in public organizations and how these changes can be governed to produce effective, accountable, and equitable outcomes. My research has been published in Public Administration Review, The American Review of Public Administration, International Public Management Journal, and State and Local Government Review.
Grounded in organizational and institutional theory, my dissertation, The Contingent Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Public Management: Evidence Across Bureaucrats, Public Organizations, and Citizens, asks why government AI adoption yields different consequences for employees, organizations, and the public. Its three essays identify organizational, institutional, and representational conditions that shape the consequences of government AI for employee well-being, service performance, and government legitimacy. One essay has been published in Public Administration Review. Her dissertation research has been supported by a grant from the New Jersey State Policy Lab and fellowships from Rutgers University–Newark and the China-America Association for Public Affairs.
02 / Research
Published
AI in Policing and Perceived Legitimacy: Does Gender Representation Make a Difference?
Gao, C., & Riccucci, N. M. (2026). Public Administration Review. Advance online publication.
View DOIIdentity Threat and Affective Commitment after Reorganization: The Moderating Role of Public Service Motivation among Chinese Firefighters
Gao, C., & Yang, K. (2026). International Public Management Journal. Forthcoming.
Linking Broadband Availability to Perceived Digital Skills: The Moderating Role of Education
Gao, C., Caldarulo, M., & Porumbescu, G. (2026). State and Local Government Review. Advance online publication.
View DOIBehavioral Ethics: Does It Have a Role in Helping Develop a Better Understanding of Administrative Ethics?
Yang, K., Gao, C., & Liu, Y. (2025). The American Review of Public Administration, 55(4), 283–298.
View DOIActive review
AI-Informed Public Officials’ Misconduct and Citizens’ Racialized Blame Attribution
Canyu Gao · Under review at Public Performance & Management Review
How Does AI in Public Decision-Making Shape Performance Evaluation and Responsibility Attribution?
Canyu Gao and Ricardo Bello-Gomez · Under review at Public Management Review
Deservingness in Administrative Errors and Racialized Perceived Legitimacy: Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Canyu Gao, José Acevedo, and Ricardo Bello-Gomez · Under review at Administration & Society
The Performance Effect of Government AI Adoption Across Racial Contexts: Does Centralization Help?
Canyu Gao · Draft complete. Target: Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
The Contingent Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence Adoption and Public Employees’ Job Satisfaction: The Case of the U.S. Federal Government
Canyu Gao and Kaifeng Yang · Draft complete. Target: Review of Public Personnel Administration
Making Responsible AI Plans: An Accountability Framework and the State of Practice
Canyu Gao, Yifan Guo, and Kaifeng Yang · Draft nearing completion. Target: Public Administration Review
“New” Policy Instruments in the Digital Government Era? Insights from a Scoping Literature Review and OECD Country Reports
Diego Galego, Canyu Gao, and Chris Walker · Draft nearing completion. Target: Government Information Quarterly
Slowing Down Artificial Intelligence in Policing
Gao, C. (2026). New Jersey State Policy Lab.
Read articleLinking Broadband Availability and Education to Digital Skills
Porumbescu, G., Gao, C., & Caldarulo, M. (2024). New Jersey State Policy Lab.
Read reportDigital Technologies Might Not Necessarily Reduce Cognitive Bias and Inequality
Gao, C. (2023). New Jersey State Policy Lab.
Read article03 / Teaching
Courses in public administration, organizations, and data analysis at Rutgers University.
Instructor of Record
Undergraduate · Online
Undergraduate · In person
Teaching Assistant
Graduate core · Online
Graduate · In person
Graduate · Online
04 / Record
Grants, Fellowships & Awards
Conference Presentations
05 / Professional
Professional Service
Affiliations
Methods & Languages
Methods · Panel Data Econometrics, Regression Discontinuity (RD), Instrumental Variables (IV), Difference-in-Differences (DiD), Computational Text Analysis
Statistical packages · Stata, R, Python, SPSS
Languages · English (fluent), Mandarin (native)
Contact
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers University–Newark · 111 Washington Street · Newark, NJ 07102