Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/69353 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7058
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
A rich literature in public administration has shown that public sector employees have stronger altruistic motivations than private sector employees. Recent economic theories stress the importance of mission preferences, and predict that altruistic people sort into the public sector when they subscribe to its mission. This paper uses data from a representative survey among more than 30,000 employees from 50 countries to test this prediction. We find strong evidence for a mutually reinforcing role of altruism and mission alignment in sorting to the public sector, particularly among highly educated workers and among workers in less-developed countries.
Subjects: 
public service motivation
altruism
mission preferences
sorting
World Values Survey
JEL: 
H1
J45
M5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
267.15 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.