On the Nature of Public Service Motivation

Homberg, Fabian; Costello, Joyce

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02453-6_1

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Public service-oriented work motives refer to a set of other-oriented individual- level dispositions, which can be nurtured by institutions (Bullock et al, 2015; Perry and Wise, 1990). Since they operate on the individual level , constructs like, for example, PSM can be found in all sectors (Homberg and Costello, 2019; Liu et al, 2015) but are assumed to be more pronounced in public sector settings (Perry, 2014). Consequently, such motives play a significant role in attraction (Fischer and Schott, 2020) and socialization processes, and shape the nature of public sector work in general.…”

Section: Public Service-oriented Work Motivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public service-oriented work motives across Europe: A cross-country, multi-level investigation

Homberg

Mohrenweiser

2021

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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This article disentangles the country-specific institutional system at the macro level from individual-level attraction and socialization in measuring public service-oriented work motives across European countries through public–private sector comparisons. We argue that country-specific institutions shape the level of public service-oriented work motives of each country and thereby generate level differences across countries. In contrast, public–private sector differences, (i.e. gaps), in public service-oriented work motives within a country reflect aspects of individual-level attraction and socialization. We use the 2005 and 2010 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey and demonstrate that the levels and gaps are empirically distinct phenomena, contrary to current treatment in the literature. We conclude that the distinction between levels and gaps can advance understanding of the antecedents of public service-oriented work motives and support the institutional theory of public service-oriented work motives. Points for practitioners This article argues and provides evidence for the fact that levels of work motives oriented towards public service that are visible in a cross-country comparison should not be confused with the gap of such work motives inside one country. This distinction is important because in countries where gaps between the sectors are almost non-existent and levels are generally high, interventions geared towards public service-oriented work motives are less likely to be effective.

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