Organisational determinants of administrative decision-making quality in European asylum offices: a qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA)

Abstract The article examines how organisational and structural configurations shape the quality of administrative decision-making in European asylum offices. Drawing on fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of 27 cases across nine countries between 2010 and 2022, it analyses variation in administrative decision-making quality using judicial overturn rates as a proxy. The findings show that variation and fluctuation in decision-making quality is best explained by specific combinations of organisational and structural conditions rather than by single factors such as application pressure or professional capacity alone. Higher quality emerges through a limited number of conjunctural pathways in which greater administrative insulation from political influence or lower application pressure function as enabling conditions. Organisational experience and caseworker competence contribute to quality only when embedded in supportive institutional settings. Overall, the findings indicate that differences in decision-making quality stem from asylum offices’ varying capacity to manage political and workload pressures.