Yes, I think this is exactly what I am thinking of, but with the implied generality that it applies to all domains, not specifically software as in the article examples, and also with my suggested answers to why it happens not being to avoid responsibility, but rather the closer you are to the bottom of the hierarchy, the more likely you are to be understaffed and overworked in a way that makes it logistically more difficult to spend time thinking about policy, and also to appear more agreeable to management.
Yes, I think this is exactly what I am thinking of, but with the implied generality that it applies to all domains, not specifically software as in the article examples, and also with my suggested answers to why it happens not being to avoid responsibility, but rather the closer you are to the bottom of the hierarchy, the more likely you are to be understaffed and overworked in a way that makes it logistically more difficult to spend time thinking about policy, and also to appear more agreeable to management.