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Motivation and mission in the public sector: evidence from the World Values Survey

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  • Edd Cowley
  • Sarah Smith

Abstract

It is well-recognised that workers may have intrinsic—as well as extrinsic—motivations. Previous studies have identified that public sector workers typically have a higher level of intrinsic motivation, compared to workers in the private sector. This paper compares (measures of) intrinsic motivation among 30,000+ workers in the two sectors across 51 countries using data from the World Values Survey. We find that public sector workers exhibit higher intrinsic motivation in many countries, but that this is not a universal relationship. One possibility is that public sector mission may influence whether or not motivated workers choose to work in the sector. In support of this, we show that the level of (public) corruption—which plausibly affects mission—can explain some of the variation across countries in the proportion of motivated workers in the sector. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Edd Cowley & Sarah Smith, 2014. "Motivation and mission in the public sector: evidence from the World Values Survey," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 241-263, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:theord:v:76:y:2014:i:2:p:241-263
    DOI: 10.1007/s11238-013-9371-6
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    Cited by:

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    2. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz, 2016. "Squared Segmentation: How the Insider/Outsider divide across Public/Private Employment shapes attitudes towards markets," Working Papers 78, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    3. Tukiainen, Janne & Blesse, Sebastian & Bohne, Albrecht & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Jääskeläinen, Jan & Luukinen, Ari & Sieppi, Antti, 2024. "What are the priorities of bureaucrats? Evidence from conjoint experiments with procurement officials," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    4. Lucia Rizzica, 2016. "Why go public? A study of the individual determinants of public sector employment choice," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 343, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Chen, Shuai & Ge, Erqi, 2022. "The Anti-Corruption Campaign and the Inter-Generational Transmission of Working in Bureaucracy: Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1159, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Valasek, Justin, 2018. "Dynamic reform of public institutions: A model of motivated agents and collective reputation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 94-108.
    7. Isaac Mbiti & Danila Serra, 2022. "Health workers’ behavior, patient reporting and reputational concerns: lab-in-the-field experimental evidence from Kenya," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(2), pages 514-556, April.
    8. Robert Dur & Robin Zoutenbier, 2011. "Working for a Good Cause," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-168/1, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2013.
    9. Carolina Prihandinisari & Azizur Rahman & John Hicks, 2020. "Developing an Explanatory Risk Management Model to Comprehend the Employees’ Intention to Leave Public Sector Organization," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Kim Lehrer & Catherine Porter, 2018. "Charitable Dictators? Determinants of Giving to NGOs in Uganda," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 80-101, January.
    11. Chen, Shuai & Ge, Erqi, 2024. "The Anti-Corruption Campaign and the Inter-Generational Transmission of Working in Bureaucracy: Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1159 [rev.], Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Frederico Finan & Benjamin A. Olken & Rohini Pande, 2015. "The Personnel Economics of the State," NBER Working Papers 21825, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    14. Mocetti, Sauro & Orlando, Tommaso, 2019. "Corruption, workforce selection and mismatch in the public sector," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Chen, Shuai & Ge, Erqi, 2022. "The Anti-Corruption Campaign and the Inter-Generational Transmission of Working in Bureaucracy: Evidence from China," IZA Discussion Papers 15569, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Sebastian Kot & Róbert Štefko & Ján Dobrovič & Rastislav Rajnoha & Jan Váchal, 2019. "The Main Performance and Effectiveness Factors of Sustainable Financial Administration Reform Using Multidimensional Statistical Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-21, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intrinsic motivation; Public sector; Corruption; Worker selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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