Title: Values and Motivation in Public Administration: Public Service Motivation (PSM) in an International Comparative Perspective
Abstract: Public service motivation (PSM) is an important variable within contemporary public administration, having been linked to various human resource processes in a public environment (e.g., recruitment, performance, preference for incentives). PSM refers to motivational factors that are specific to government. It was originally an American concept and therefore there are some difficulties in applying it to other, national contexts. This paper compares the original model of PSM by Perry to two other cases, France and the Netherlands. Next to the original dimensions of PSM (attraction to politics and policy making, public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice), the study distinguishes five other dimensions (religion, equality, tradition in service delivery, technical competencies, and bureaucracy). These dimensions are presented in an extensive and comparative way. Although PSM proves to be a universal concept, both the French and the Dutch display different elements. These observations provide support for a new institutionalist approach to public service motivation and to motivation in general. As such, they refute the narrow self-interested motivational bases of rational and public-choice theories applied within new public management.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 11
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