Business improvement districts in New York: the private sector in public service or the public sector privatized?

The demand for innovation in public organizations is increasing. In this study, I explore factors that contribute to the innovative behavior of civil servants at the individual level. The theoretical distinction between public and private organizations has long been a subject of debate, and certain characteristics of innovation in public organizations mimic innovation in the private sector, even though the purpose of innovation in public organizations is to secure public goods. In order to examine the innovative behavior of public employees who face such contradictory circumstances, I parameterized the characteristics of each sector, using whether or not the employee had worked in the private sector prior to entering the public service as the characteristic for the private sector and the effect of public service motivation on innovative behavior as the characteristic for the public sector and found that at the individual level, the two are not mutually exclusive.

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Patronage and Public-Sector Wages in 1896

The Journal of Economic History ◽

10.1017/s0022050700022890 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 59 (2) ◽

pp. 424-446 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Werner Troesken

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Skilled Workers ◽

The Public ◽

Public Sector Employees ◽

State And Local ◽

Wage Premia

Few systematic studies of the effects of patronage on public-sector employees' wages and working conditions exist. Exploiting a sample of nearly 90,000 workers, this article provides systematic evidence: Where patronage was widespread, state and local employees earned 40 percent more per hour; worked 16 to 17 percent fewer hours; and earned 22 percent more per week than comparable private-sector workers. Public-sector wage premia varied; low-skilled workers, and workers in Baltimore and New York, enjoyed relatively large wage premia. Wages were less dispersed in the public sector than in the private, suggesting that pay scales reflected politics, not marginal products.

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Workplace pensions and remuneration in the public and private sectors in the UK

National Institute Economic Review ◽

10.1177/002795011623700114 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 237 ◽

pp. R30-R37 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jonathan Cribb ◽

Carl Emmerson

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Public Service ◽

Defined Benefit ◽

Public And Private ◽

The Public ◽

Public Sector Reforms ◽

The Uk ◽

Workplace Pensions ◽

Defined Benefit Pensions

We estimate the changing value of workplace pensions in the UK and incorporate their value into an estimate of the public sector pay differential. Falling pension membership in the private sector and growing value of public service pensions led to a significant increase in the estimated public sector pay differential from 1997 to 2009, even though headline pay grew faster in the private sector. From 2009 to 2012, although pay grew faster in the public sector, reforms to public service defined benefit pensions, particularly indexation to the CPI rather than RPI, significantly reduced the public pay differential.

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Sustaining Honesty in Public Service: The Role of Selection

American Economic Journal Economic Policy ◽

10.1257/pol.20170688 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 96-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sebastian Barfort ◽

Nikolaj A. Harmon ◽

Frederik Hjorth ◽

Asmus Leth Olsen

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Public Service ◽

Survey Experiment ◽

The Public ◽

Self Selection ◽

Selection Pattern ◽

Selection Of

We study the role of self-selection into public service in sustaining honesty in the public sector. Focusing on the world’s least corrupt country, Denmark, we use a survey experiment to document strong self-selection of more honest individuals into public service. This result differs sharply from existing findings from more corrupt settings. Differences in pro-social versus pecuniary motivation appear central to the observed selection pattern. Dishonest individuals are more pecuniarily motivated and self-select out of public service into higher-paying private sector jobs. Accordingly, we find that increasing public sector wages would attract more dishonest candidates to public service in Denmark. (JEL D73, H83, J31, J45)

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Analysis of Public Servants' Working in Municipality Administration Motivation Research

Public Policy And Administration ◽

10.5755/j01.ppaa.10.1.234 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 127-140

Author(s):

Jolanta Palidauskaitė ◽

Aušra Vaisvalavičiutė

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Public Service ◽

Public Interest ◽

Work Experience ◽

Public Life ◽

Public Servants ◽

The Public ◽

New Methods ◽

Great Responsibility

The aim of the article is to reveal the results of research of Lithuanian public servants motivation, which was conducted in early 2010 as an integral part of public servants motivation research conducted in 12 countries. The results of the research revealed, that a larger part of respondents were minded to participate in public life, sympathized to others and were prepared to sacrifice for them and welfare of the society. Not all respondents were certain, that the main purpose of their activity was serving for the good of the society. Goodwill, sympathy, a wish to help needy people, aspiration for justice were not strange to respondents, but they were not ready to suffer individual losses for this. Younger respondents and those whose work experience in public service was short, were less ready to compassionate others or to sacrifice for them. Although new methods and means (absorbed form the private sector) are applied in the public sector, the great responsibility, the duty to care for welfare of all society and public interest cannot be forgotten. These factors must be taken into account in the processes of public servants training and their socialization at work place.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.10.1.234

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Sector Differences in the Public Service Motivation–Job Satisfaction Relationship: Exploring the Role of Organizational Characteristics

Review of Public Personnel Administration ◽

10.1177/0734371x16631605 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 24-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Anne Mette Kjeldsen ◽

Jesper Rosenberg Hansen

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Public Service ◽

Organizational Characteristics ◽

Organizational Goal ◽

The Public ◽

Red Tape ◽

Goal Specificity ◽

Satisfaction Relationship

Public service motivation (PSM) has a documented, positive effect on job satisfaction—especially in the public sector. However, organizational characteristics such as red tape, hierarchical authority, and the absence of organizational goal specificity, which are often more present in public sector organizations, may have negative influences on the PSM–job satisfaction relationship. This study explores the impact of these organizational characteristics on sector differences in the PSM–job satisfaction relationship in a “hard case” setting. Using survey data with low-level, white-collar employees, we confirm a positive PSM–job satisfaction association in the public sector compared with the private sector, where we see a negative association. Furthermore, perceived red tape and the absence of organizational goal specificity have negative influences on job satisfaction; nevertheless, sector differences remain in the PSM–job satisfaction relationship when controlled for these organizational characteristics. This suggests that public or private sector status is more important for the PSM–job satisfaction relationship than other organizational characteristics.

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Human Resource Management in a Public-Sector Context

The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Approaches to Human Resource Management ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190861162.013.19 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 414-436

Author(s):

Peter Leisink ◽

Rick T. Borst ◽

Eva Knies ◽

Valentina Battista

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Human Resource Management ◽

Human Resource ◽

Public Service ◽

Industrial Relations ◽

Public Organizations ◽

Human Resource Practices ◽

The Public

Human resource management (HRM) scholars studying HRM in a public-sector context hold that the public-sector context is distinctive despite decades of reforms oriented on private-sector management principles. Distinctive characteristics include (1) the multiple goals that public organizations serve, making vertical alignment of HRM difficult; (2) the constraints on managerial autonomy resulting from red tape and trade union involvement; and (3) employees’ public service motivation, which is antithetical to performance management. However, there is a lack of evidence on public- versus private-sector differences in the human resource practices that are actually applied. Using Cranet 2014/15 survey, this chapter examines whether public-sector institutional characteristics affect the application of human resource practices as theoretically expected. The results show that, compared to the late 1990s, HRM in public organizations continues to differ in some respects from HRM in private-sector organizations, but not in other respects. The traditional belief that public-sector HRM is not outright aimed at efficiency and effectiveness still holds. The public service ethic and the resilience of collectivized industrial relations likely contribute to this. However, the traditional public-sector HRM orientation on employee well-being is less distinctive, which will likely affect the position of public organizations in the labor market.

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Contradictions in the Concept of Public Institutes in Slovenian Legislation

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government ◽

10.4335/12.2.311-327(2014) ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 311-327

Author(s):

Boštjan Brezovnik

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Public Service ◽

Political System ◽

Legal Status ◽

Legal Form ◽

Non Profit ◽

The Public ◽

Organisational Model ◽

Assets Management

In the legislation in force on Slovenian territory, public institutes as a legal form of carrying out statutory utilities have a colourful history. Initially, they became very widespread in the 1950’s, when they were being established as independently financed institutes in many public service fields. With the introduction of a new constitutional and social-political system after 1991, the legislator introduced a special organisational model for the provision of non-profit activities, namely both for those that were to be performed in the public sector – as statutory utilities, as well as for those that were to be performed in the private sector – as non-profit activities. For the public sector, a form of public institutes was asserted, and a form of private institutes for the private sector. The purpose of this text is to display the legal status, assets, management and financing of public institutes in Slovenian legislation.

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Public vs private sector employment

Personnel Review ◽

10.1108/pr-10-2014-0241 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (6) ◽

pp. 1367-1385 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Eddy S.W. Ng ◽

Charles W. Gossett ◽

Samuel Chinyoka ◽

Isaac Obasi

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Career Choice ◽

Developing Country ◽

Public Service ◽

Public Service Motivation ◽

Personality Factors ◽

Content Type ◽

The Public ◽

Factors Associated

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that may be related to a career choice in the public vs the private sector in a developing African country. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of graduate management students, the authors tested reward preferences and altruism, elements of public service motivation, on their generalizability to a developing country in Africa. The authors also examine the role of career attitudes, individual personality factors, and cultural values on a career choice in public service. Findings The authors find that not all the factors associated with the choice of sector (public or private) found in previous studies apply in the Botswana context. Research limitations/implications Perry and Wise (1990) developed the concept of public service motivation to explain why individuals may be motivated to serve the public. However, two of the factors associated with public service, intrinsic motivation, and altruism, were not predictive of a career choice in the public sector in Botswana, and thus may limit its generalizability outside of western developed countries. Practical implications In Botswana and other developing economies, government jobs are considered to provide lucrative and stable employment, and attract educated citizens regardless of motivations. However, as the private-for-profit sector is emerging, these countries could soon be facing serious competition for top university students, and will need to develop a strategy for attracting the best talents to choose employment in the public sector over career options in the private sector. Originality/value The present study seeks to further the understanding on how individuals make a career choice between public vs private sector management in a developing country.

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Game of Loans: The Relationship Between Education Debt, Social Responsibility Concerns, and Making a Career Choice in the Public, Private, and Nonprofit Sectors

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0899764019867773 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 292-315

Author(s):

Eddy S. Ng ◽

Jasmine McGinnis Johnson

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Career Choice ◽

Public Service ◽

Marginal Effect ◽

The Public ◽

The Relationship ◽

Graduating Students ◽

Initial Choice ◽

Education Debt

The public and nonprofit sectors generally pay less than the private sector, and individuals are willing to forgo higher salaries in exchange for greater intrinsic satisfaction derived from making a contribution to society. However, personal financial considerations, such as education debt, may discourage individuals from pursuing careers in lower paying sectors even if they are predisposed to public service motivation (PSM). We surveyed a sample of graduating students to investigate if (a) education debt discourages students from pursuing lower paying public or nonprofit careers and (b) whether PSM overrides the considerations students might make about entering lower paying sectors as their education debt rises. First, we find that education debt has a marginal effect on initially selecting private over public and nonprofit careers. Rising education debt may discourage students from public sector careers after controlling for PSM. We also find that rising education debt may discourage students from nonprofit careers even with high levels of PSM. The present study enhances our understanding of how financial considerations, in the form of education debt, may influence a student’s initial choice in pursuing public, private, and nonprofit careers.

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