Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of ethical leaders on the knowledge-sharing behavior of public sector employees. Ethical leaders engender knowledge-sharing behavior of employees by influencing their psychological capital.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the mechanism by which ethical leaders shape the knowledge-sharing behavior of employees, cross-sectional self-reported data (n = 339) are collected from employees working at decision-making positions in federal ministries in Pakistan.
Findings
Analysis results indicate that ethical leaders influence public employees to share knowledge with colleagues. Moreover, the mediary role of ethical values, organizational identification and altruism is evident, however, the mediary role of self-efficacy is not evident from results.
Practical implications
This implies that policymakers should be cognizant of the indirect mechanism by which ethical leaders positively influence the behavior of public employees. This knowledge helps them consider the recruitment, promotion and training of employees, especially the leaders, in line with the required ethical value consideration in public sector organizations.
Originality/value
This research is based on originally collected data from the field.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.