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The Motivation and Bias of Bureaucrats

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Author Info
Canice Prendergast
Abstract

Many individuals are motivated to exert effort because they care about their jobs, rather than because there are monetary consequences to their actions. The intrinsic motivation of bureaucrats is the focus of this paper, and three primary results are shown. First, bureaucrats should be biased. Second, sometimes this bias takes the form of advocating for their clients more than would their principal, while in other cases, they are more hostile to their interests. For a range of bureaucracies, those who are biased against clients lead to more efficient outcomes. Third, self-selection need not produce the desired bias. Instead, selection to bureaucracies is likely to be bifurcated, in the sense that it becomes composed of those who are most preferred by the principal, and those who are least preferred. (JEL D64, D73, D82)

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1257/aer.97.1.180
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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles/article_detail.php?journal=AER&volume=97&issue=1&article=8&issue_date=March2007
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Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 97 (2007)
Issue (Month): 1 (March)
Pages: 180-196
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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:97:y:2007:i:1:p:180-196

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  1. Florian Schuett, 2009. "Inventors and Impostors: An Economic Analysis of Patent Examination," Economics Working Papers ECO2009/28, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
  2. Noriyuki Yanagawa, 2008. "Biased Motivation of Experts: Should They be Aggressive or Conservative?," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-585, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Les Modes de Rémunération comme MécanismesSélectifs de la Main d’oeuvre : Fondements Théoriques et Estimations Empiriques," Post-Print halshs-00303703_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Les Modes de Rémunération comme Mécanismes Sélectifs de la Main d’oeuvre : Fondements Théoriques et Estimations Empiriques," Working Papers 0818, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure. [Downloadable!]
  5. Friedman, John N. & Kelman, Steven, 2007. "Effort as Investment: Analyzing the Response to Incentives," Working Paper Series rwp07-024, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
  6. Fahad Khalil & Doyoung Kim & Jacques Lawarree, 2008. "Contracts in Bureaucracies," Working Papers UWEC-2008-08, University of Washington, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Buurman, Margaretha & Dur, Robert, 2008. "Incentives and the Sorting of Altruistic Agents into Street-Level Bureaucracies," IZA Discussion Papers 3847, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  8. Josse Delfgaauw & Robert Dur, 2008. "Managerial Talent, Motivation, and Self-Selection into Public Management," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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