Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/99024 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8239
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We examine differences in altruism and laziness between public sector employees and private sector employees. Our theoretical model predicts that the likelihood of public sector employment increases with a worker's altruism, and increases or decreases with a worker's laziness depending on his altruism. Using questionnaire data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, we find that public sector employees are significantly more altruistic and lazy than observationally equivalent private sector employees. A series of robustness checks show that these patterns are stronger among higher educated workers; that the sorting of altruistic people to the public sector takes place only within the caring industries; and that the difference in altruism is already present at the start of people's career, while the difference in laziness is only present for employees with sufficiently long work experience.
Subjects: 
public sector employment
sorting
laziness
altruism
public service motivation
personality characteristics
JEL: 
H1
J45
M5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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