IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/schmbr/v18y2017i4d10.1007_s41464-017-0033-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Contract Types for Employees’ Public Service Motivation

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Grund

    () (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Kirsten Thommes

    () (Brandenburg University of Technology)

Abstract

The intention of “doing good for society” is regarded to be a crucial motivator for employees in the public sector in order for them to perform well. Recent research in the public sector literature calls for a deeper understanding of how this specific public service motivation (PSM) is shaped. In our paper, we analyze how different degrees of inclusion in the public sector matter for PSM. We investigate how prospects of employment relations (fixed-term versus permanent contracts) and temporal differences (part-time versus full-time employment) moderate PSM in the public and in the private service. Our findings show that aspects of PSM are related by these employment characteristics in various ways, suggesting that the factors influencing PSM are multifaceted and that actual employment conditions need to be taken into consideration when assessing PSM.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Grund & Kirsten Thommes, 2017. "The Role of Contract Types for Employees’ Public Service Motivation," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(4), pages 377-398, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:schmbr:v:18:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s41464-017-0033-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s41464-017-0033-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41464-017-0033-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alison L. Booth & Marco Francesconi & Jeff Frank, 2002. "Temporary Jobs: Stepping Stones Or Dead Ends?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(480), pages 189-213, June.
    2. Simon Luechinger & Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, 2010. "Why Does Unemployment Hurt the Employed?: Evidence from the Life Satisfaction Gap Between the Public and the Private Sector," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(4), pages 998-1045.
    3. Leete, Laura, 2000. "Wage equity and employee motivation in nonprofit and for-profit organizations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 423-446, December.
    4. Engellandt, Axel & Riphahn, Regina T., 2005. "Temporary contracts and employee effort," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 281-299, June.
    5. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske, 2005. "Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 154-173, February.
    6. Simon Gächter & Armin Falk, 2002. "Reputation and Reciprocity: Consequences for the Labour Relation," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 104(1), pages 1-26, March.
    7. Céline Desmarais & Claire Edey Gamassou, 2014. "All motivated by public service? The links between hierarchical position and public service motivation," Post-Print hal-01118026, HAL.
    8. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    9. Greene, William, 2010. "Testing hypotheses about interaction terms in nonlinear models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 291-296, May.
    10. Gagliarducci, Stefano, 2005. "The dynamics of repeated temporary jobs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 429-448, August.
    11. Dustmann, Christian & van Soest, Arthur, 1998. "Public and private sector wages of male workers in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1417-1441, September.
    12. Huck, Steffen & Kübler, Dorothea & Weibull, Jörgen, 2012. "Social norms and economic incentives in firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 173-185.
    13. Janet Walsh, 1999. "Myths and Counter-Myths: An Analysis of Part-Time Female Employees and Their Orientations to Work and Working Hours," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 13(2), pages 179-203, June.
    14. Barry T. Hirsch, 2005. "Why Do Part-Time Workers Earn Less? The Role of Worker and Job Skills," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(4), pages 525-551, July.
    15. H. Naci Mocan & Erdal Tekin, 2003. "Nonprofit Sector and Part-Time Work: An Analysis of Employer-Employee Matched Data on Child Care Workers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 38-50, February.
    16. Kathryn M. Bartol & Wei Liu & Xiangquan Zeng & Kelu Wu, 2009. "Social Exchange and Knowledge Sharing among Knowledge Workers: The Moderating Role of Perceived Job Security," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 5(2), pages 223-240, July.
    17. Lancaster, Tony, 2000. "The incidental parameter problem since 1948," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 391-413, April.
    18. Juan F. Jimeno & Luis Toharia, 1993. "The effects of fixed-term employment on wages: theory and evidence from Spain," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 17(3), pages 475-494, September.
    19. Donald P. Moynihan & Wouter Vandenabeele & Jens Blom-Hansen, 2013. "Debate: Advancing public service motivation research," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 288-289, July.
    20. Janet Walsh, 2007. "Experiencing Part‐Time Work: Temporal Tensions, Social Relations and the Work–Family Interface," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 155-177, March.
    21. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    22. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    23. Blaise Melly, 2005. "Public-private sector wage differentials in Germany: Evidence from quantile regression," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 505-520, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grund, Christian & Thommes, Kirsten, 2015. "Disentangling the Role of Contract Types and Sector Disparities for Public Service Motivation," IZA Discussion Papers 9385, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Marco Di Cintio & Emanuele Grassi, 2015. "Wage Incentive Profiles in Dual Labour Markets," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(328), pages 790-812, October.
    3. Dimitris Pavlopoulos, 2009. "Starting Your Career with a Temporary Job: Stepping Stone or "Dead-End"?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 228, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. J. Ignacio García‐Pérez & Fernando Muñoz‐Bullón, 2011. "Transitions into Permanent Employment in Spain: An Empirical Analysis for Young Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 103-143, March.
    5. Wölfel, Oliver & Heineck, Guido, 2012. "Parental risk attitudes and children's secondary school track choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 727-743.
    6. Coupe, Tom & Obrizan, Maksym, 2016. "The impact of war on happiness: The case of Ukraine," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PA), pages 228-242.
    7. Guell, Maia & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2007. "How binding are legal limits? Transitions from temporary to permanent work in Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 153-183, April.
    8. Romina Giuliano & Stephan Kampelmann & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2017. "Short Notice, Big Difference? The Effect of Temporary Employment on Firm Competitiveness across Sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 421-449, June.
    9. Tatiana Karabchuk, 2012. "Part-time and temporary workers in Russia: winners or losers? [Teilzeitbeschäftigte und befristet Beschäftigte in Russland: Gewinner oder Verlierer?]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 45(1), pages 23-39, March.
    10. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske, 2009. "The Role of Temporary Help Employment in Low-Wage Worker Advancement," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 399-436, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ferreira, Maria & de Grip, Andries & van der Velden, Rolf, 2018. "Does informal learning at work differ between temporary and permanent workers? Evidence from 20 OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 18-40.
    12. Pauline Givord & Lionel Wilner, 2015. "When Does the Stepping‐Stone Work? Fixed‐Term Contracts Versus Temporary Agency Work in Changing Economic Conditions," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 787-805, August.
    13. Tansel, Aysit & Keskin, Halil Ibrahim & Ozdemir, Zeynel Abidin, 2020. "Public-private sector wage gap by gender in Egypt: Evidence from quantile regression on panel data, 1998–2018," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    14. Adrian Chadi, 2014. "Regional unemployment and norm-induced effects on life satisfaction," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 1111-1141, May.
    15. John T. Addison & Christopher J. Surfield, 2005. "‘Atypical Work’ and Compensation," GEMF Working Papers 2005-14, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    16. Malo, Miguel A. & Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando, 2008. "Working career progress in the tourism industry : temp-to perm transitions in Spain," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb083510, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    17. Steffen Otterbach & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2016. "Job insecurity, employability and health: an analysis for Germany across generations," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(14), pages 1303-1316, March.
    18. Yolanda Rebollo Sanz, 2006. "The role of job interruptions, temporary contracts and multi-firm experiences in the temporality trap in Spain," Working Papers 06.31, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    19. Boockmann, Bernhard & Hagen, Tobias, 2008. "Fixed-term contracts as sorting mechanisms: Evidence from job durations in West Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 984-1005, October.
    20. Matteo PICCHIO, 2006. "Temporary Jobs and State Dependence in Italy," Working Papers 272, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:schmbr:v:18:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s41464-017-0033-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Sonal Shukla) or (Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.