The objective of this thesis is to provide both empirical evidence and theoretical explanations that will show the positive and negative effects of intrinsic motivation and reputational concerns in the public sector. The thesis argues that by having intrinsically motivated individuals in the public sector (i.e. individuals that are public service motivated), the government can provide higher quality public goods and services at a lower cost. The thesis finds empirical evidence for the existence of public service motivation and also finds that high extrinsic rewards in the public sector deter individuals with high levels of public service motivation from joining the public sector. There is also empirical evidence showing that individuals remain public service motivated in the long term. This thesis also investigates whether the reputational concerns of a principal (government) can lead to under provision of quality improving effort by contracted firms in procurement contracts. The thesis finds that reputational concerns cause the decision maker to intervene in procurement projects more frequently than is optimal. This then results in the contracted private firm exerting less effort to produce quality improving firm specific investments. Since public service motivation can improve the delivery of public goods and services, these findings lead us to conclude that governments must find ways to recruit a larger proportion of public service motivated individuals into the public sector. These findings also highlight the importance of reputational concerns in the decision making process of governments. They show us that reputational concerns can have very negative effects on procurement contracts.

This study develops a theoretical framework to examine the major dimensions of transformational leadership style (TLS), public service motivation (PSM), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and public organization performance (POP). It is hypothesized that when employees perceived a public organization is practicing a transformational leadership style, they are likely to have a favorable view on the performance of their organization, but the effect is indirect and mediated by OCB. At the same time, if employees have a strong desire to serve and improve the welfare of others, they are likely to perform beyond their job requirements and thus, likely to express a positive view on the organizational performance. A structural equation modeling was used to examine 1,016 public employees (67.7% response rate) in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Mexico i.e., concerning their perceptions about leadership style, motivation to serve in the public sector, citizenship behaviors, and public organizational performance. The results suggest that if Mexican public employees perceived their leaders to adopt a transformational leadership style, they were likely to have a favorable view on the performance of their organization (direct effect); and that, the effect is mediated by their tendency to engage in activities that would contribute to the functioning of the organization without expecting any kinds of reward (indirect effect). In addition, if employees have a strong motivation to serve in the public sector, they are also likely to have a favorable view on the performance of the organization; and that, the positive effect is mediated by their tendency to act for the goodness of other employees and organizations without expecting some form of reward (indirect effect). A multi-group analysis, based on the hypothesized model, revealed the associations varied across three groups: difference between male and female, places of employment within the public sector (i.e., local or state government), and job descriptions or major tasks performed by employees in an organization (i.e., services oriented or administrative role).

The local fire station typically is responsible for responding first in an emergency.  Emergency response in the era after 11 September 2001 is an important topic to consider. In the big picture, it is a complex web of federal and national resources that are brought to bear on a diverse set of problems.  In the smaller picture, individual managers cope with pressures to provide efficient response, but a response that is embedded within the needs of the local community.  In both these pictures, the tensions between individualism and nationalism are discerned.  This dissertation examines these individuals at the local county level in more detail.  Using grounded theory, it describes the strategies that emerged to integrate the actions of career and volunteer first responders.  It finds that legacy organizational design and individual motivations are important influences on these integrating strategies.  Most interestingly, it finds that the founding debate between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists still has influence on these managing strategies.  Local managers are able to blend these distinct visions of government.  Each of these influences is described as they were manifested in the study interviews and observations. / Ph. D.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Public service motivation refers to individuals’ with a predisposition to perform public service for largely altruistic motives in public institutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate what public service motivation (PSM) meant to state-employed social workers in the South African context. In gaining insight into PSM amongst social workers in the public sector, my objectives were to explore the value social workers place on intrinsic rewards, the reasons why participants entered the profession, and what social workers’ self-perceptions of their role was as public servants and what public service meant for their own identities. This qualitative study was conducted in the Western Cape with state-employed social workers. The social workers were selected using snowball sampling. Participants varied in age, years of experience as social workers, gender, and race. Data for this study was based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews. With public service motivation being an under-researched subject in the South African context, an open-ended inquiry into the important variables that influence PSM in the local context was followed. This approach will inform ways in which PSM could be measured in the future in the South African context. The results of my study indicate that social workers were attracted to public sector employment because it offered the greatest extrinsic incentives – higher salaries, medical aid benefits, and a housing subsidy, compared to NGO’s in the private sector. This finding challenges the widely accepted notion in PSM literature that social workers place more value on intrinsic reward than extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic reward refers to financial or other tangible incentives. The data further revealed that participants were willing to leave the social work profession and exit public service for employment opportunities that offered them greater support from superiors, and remuneration that acknowledged their academic qualifications. Poor remuneration adversely affected participants’ feeling of job satisfaction and motivation to perform their duties. Politics has played a seminal role in shaping the quality, and the denying of public service to certain categories of citizens.

This present study aims to identify the relationships between public service motivation (PSM), job satisfaction, and level of commitment for the study population of 139 executive directors (N=42) and full-time employees (N=97) working with the YMCA in either Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Tennessee. The study was conducted using an online questionnaire, where executive directors or a representative were contacted to attain consent prior to their participation in the study. For this study, the dependent variable (Global PSM) serves as a means to understand its influence on job satisfaction and level of commitment for the two-group (executive directors and full-time employees) sample population. Once considered to be applicable only to employees in the public sector, this study discusses the application of PSM to employees in the nonprofit sector using the research of Mann (2006) and Word and Carpenter (2013). The employment of PSM to the nonprofit sector guides this research to understand Global PSM’s influence on job satisfaction and level of commitment for executive directors and full-time employees. Moreover, Pandey and Stazyk (2008) posited job satisfaction and organizational commitment are viewed as correlates to PSM. Using ordinary least-squares regression (OLS), the findings for this study indicated four of the nine job satisfaction facets (nature of work, pay, supervision, and coworkers) were significant to increase the Global PSM of executive directors. However, none of the commitment components (affective, continuance, and normative) or demographic variables were found to be significant for this group. Likewise, the findings for the full-time employee group revealed nature of work and operating conditions as the two significant job satisfaction facets. Although slightly significant, normative commitment was the only significant variable of the three-component model of commitment when regressed together or with the job satisfaction or demographic variables in the study.

In a sector that has traditionally relied on intrinsically motivated employees, research has shown that public employees care more about serving society than reaping personal gains. Recently, the public sector implemented extrinsic rewards available to their workforce. Understanding the impact extrinsic rewards has on individuals employed in the public sector should be studied and interpreted before more personal rewards are offered by public institutions. This study examined the public service motivation (PSM) of faculty at Mississippi State University (MSU) hired between October 1, 2007 – October 1, 2016. Quantitative methods were used to analyze differences in PSM among faculty with outstanding student loan debt and those lacking debt. This study used a partial measurement of James Perry’s PSM measureable scale. By measuring self-sacrifice levels, this study determined the levels faculty at MSU are willing to substitute their personal interest for the good of society. Specifically, this study focused on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program offered by the U.S. Department of Education. Data were collected through MSU’s class climate electronic survey system. In addition to the 8 items on Perry’s PSM self-sacrifice dimension, closed-ended and multiple choice questions were asked to collect demographic information related to age, household income, student loan debt, and awareness/interest in the PSLF. The results did not reveal any statistically significant difference between faculty with outstanding student loan debt and those without student loan debt. However, the results revealed beneficial information that can be used to understand the motivation of faculty and their desire to reap extrinsic rewards. The majority of respondents indicated that they did not have outstanding student loan debt and the level of interest in PSLF was less than half of the respondents. PSLF was designed to relieve public sector employees of their student loan burdens as well as motivate individuals to seek careers in public service. The literature and data collected in this study suggest that the public sector is still dominated by intrinsically motivated employees. Future research studies should expand this quantitative analysis over various populations of public sector employees and implement the findings into the future practices of public administrations.

Within the next 15 years, a significantly large percentage of adults will exit the U.S. public sector workforce, taking their experience and knowledge with them. This considerable number of departures from the public sector workforce is expected to create a crisis of sorts for society as it grapples with how to ensure the public sector is not without its most important feature – public servants. The immediate crisis relates to how we, in record time, recruit and retain a new and highly qualified workforce that can quickly fill the gaps left by the exodus. Recently coming into their adult age, our youngest and quickly becoming our largest cohort of workforce-eligible adults, commonly referred to as “Gen Z,” are alarmingly underrepresented in the public sector. Underrepresentation is forecasted to continue and may grow. Nascent literature on Generation Z describes them as valuing the importance of public service and so the current lack of representation is puzzling and potentially points to an issue in motivation to serve in the public sector – or factors related to those motives. With permission to use Public Service Motivation (PSM) scholar Sangmook Kim’s revised public service motivation instrument, this study sets out to measure the public service motivation in a stratified random sample of Generation Z adults (Kim, 2012). Hypothesizing that Generation Z has a high level of public service motivation but is dissuaded from serving due to their perception of public sector culture, the study will introduce and examine other variables associated with organizational culture. The idea is that organizational culture – specifically the public sector’s culture – may play a role in Gen Z’s current underrepresentation. With a new generation of young adults showing signs of motivation to serve in the public sector, realizing the possibility that public sector organizational culture is getting in the way should influence a significant drive towards scholarship and practice related to public sector cultural transformation.

Die Arbeit befasst sich theoretisch und empirisch mit der so genannten Public Service Motivation (PSM) und ihrem Zusammenhang zu anderen psychologischen Motivationstheorien. Die Public Service Motivation geht davon aus, dass öffentlich Beschäftigte unter anderem dadurch motiviert sind, dass sie in ihrer Arbeit einen Dienst am Gemeinwohl sehen. Auf Basis einer empirischen Erhebung konnte dieses Konstrukt auch für Beschäftigte in Deutschland nachgewiesen und der Einfluss soziodemographischer Variablen bestätigt werden. Darüber hinaus gibt die Arbeit erste Hinweise auf Zusammenhänge zu verschiedenen Prozesstheorien der Motivation. Empirisch zeigt sich vor allem zur Gleichheitstheorie und dem darauf aufbauenden Equity Sensitivity Construct ein starker Zusammenhang. / This thesis theoretically and empirically addresses the construct of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and its relationship to other psychological motivation theories. The concept of Public Service Motivation states that employees working in the public sector are primarily motivated by serving the common good. Based on an empirical study this construct was applied to public employees in Germany. Moreover the thesis collects evidence for the relationship between Public Service Motivation and process theories of motivation. As a key result, strong correlations were found between the PSM and the Equity Sensitivity Construct, a modification of equity theory.

Mit dem in §18 des Tarifvertrags für den öffentlichen Dienst (TVöD) festgeschriebenen Leistungsentgelt soll u.a. die Motivation der Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter im öffentlichen Dienst gesteigert werden. Eine motivationssteigernde Wirkung wird jedoch von Seiten der Motivationsforschung bestritten. Sie geht im Gegenteil davon aus, dass eine leistungsorientierte Bezahlung (LOB) zu einer Verdrängung der intrinsischen Motivation (Crowding-Out Effekt) führen kann. Mithilfe eines empirischen Tests der Motivation Crowding Theorie gelangt diese Arbeit zu einem differenzierteren Urteil. Es wird gezeigt, dass im Beispiel der Kreisverwaltung Potsdam Mittelmark die subjektive Wahrnehmung der LOB durch den einzelnen Beschäftigten darüber entscheidet, ob dessen Motivation verstärkt oder verdrängt wird. Jene Beschäftigten, die sich durch die LOB kontrolliert fühlen, weisen eine signifikant geringere PSM und intrinsische Motivation als diejenigen auf, die die LOB als fördernd wahrnehmen. Als zentraler Faktor für das Urteil der Beschäftigten wird die wahrgenommene Fairness des Systems identifiziert. / By means of performance-related pay (PRP), which is laid down in §18 of the “Public Sector Collective Agreement” (TVöD), the motivation of public employees should be increased. However, motivational research contests the motivation-increasing effect. In contrast, it is assumed that performance-related pay may crowd-out the intrinsic motivation (Crowding-Out Effect). While conducting an empirical test of the Motivation Crowding Theory, this paper offers a more differentiated view. It is shown that, in the case of the local administration of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the subjective perception by the individual worker will decide on whether his or her motivation is crowded-in or crowded-out. Those who feel controlled by the PRP-system show a significant lower PSM and intrinsic motivation than those who perceive it as supportive. The fairness of the system is discovered as being the central factor affecting the judgement by the workers.

This study aims to shed light on the relationship of organizational culture in practice and as it is portrayed in written policy. A case study was conducted by examining the culture of the coworkers from one unit. Data was collected through interviews and reading official policy documents. This was then analyzed through a lens of a theoretical framework made up of three parts; the four cornerstones of what builds a culture as presented by Edgar Schein, The competing values framework, and Public service motivation. The study shows that there was a clear connection between the culture such as it was described by the coworkers and in text. However, there was a disconnect between the perceived level of public service motivation in practice and text. This prompts a discussion about the role of public service motivation in the organizational culture of the public sector and how change can affect culture. / Den här studien avser att belysa relationen mellan organisationskultur såsom den ser ut i praktiken och som den beskrivs i skriftlig policy. En case-studie genomfördes genom att undersöka kulturen hos medarbetare från en enhet. Data samlades in genom intervjuer och genom att läsa officiella policydokument. Detta analyserades sen med hjälp av ett teoretiskt ramverk som byggdes av tre delar; Edgar Scheins fyra grundstenar som bygger upp organisationskultur, The competing values framework, och public service motivation. Studien påvisar en tydlig koppling mellan kulturen som den beskrevs av medarbetarna och som denbeskrevs i text. Däremot skiljde sig nivån av public service motivation i praktik och text. Det här ledde till en diskussion kring rollen av public service motivation i organisationskulturen inom den offentliga sektorn och hur förändring kan påverka kulturen.