scholarly journals Public Sector Motivationad fonts: Personality Traits as Antecedents of the Motivation to Serve the Public Interest

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjen van Witteloostuijn ◽  
Marc Esteve ◽  
George Boyne
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The Public

The Effect of Personality Traits on Public Service Motivation: Evidence from Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chyi-Lu Jang
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
The Public

The relationship between the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and public service motivation (PSM) was examined using a questionnaire survey of 277 public servants employed by 3 local governments in Taiwan. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion was positively related to attraction to policy making, but negatively associated with self-sacrifice. Agreeableness was positively correlated to compassion. Conscientiousness was positively related to commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with commitment to the public interest and compassion, but positively with attraction to policy making. Openness to experience was positively correlated with all dimensions of PSM. In summary, personality traits can function as strong predictors of public service motivation.

Public sector reforms and the public interest

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 648-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahzad Uddin ◽  
Mathew Tsamenyi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms

scholarly journals Corruption: Epistemological Reflections and Contributions to the Public Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (96) ◽  
pp. 164-186
Author(s):  
Suélem Viana Macedo ◽  
Josiel Lopes Valadares
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Efficient Control ◽  
Civic Virtues ◽  
Deliberative Processes

Abstract Corruption is a recurring phenomenon throughout history, so different conceptions seek to formulate a concept that defines it. This theoretical essay aims to introduce a perspective that broadens the understanding of corruption beyond the currents of thought that prevail in studies about Brazilian public administration. This study indicates that the epistemic reconstruction of the meaning of corruption should derive from the conception of public interest as a result of deliberative processes between citizens and the State. Such perspective contributes to the debate about the importance of participation of the civil society in controlling corruption and creating public interest itself. This study also highlights that more efficient control is not only restricted to legislation reforms but it also relies on the enhancement civic virtues.

scholarly journals Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Sector Trust

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H. Stiglitz
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Analytical Procedure ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Welfare Cost ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
The Public

Eighty percent of Americans believe that government is run for “a few big interests” rather than the public interest. Rooted in notions of social welfare, cost-benefit analysis might be seen as an analytical procedure to flush out and discourage at least the most egregious abuses in lawmaking authority, thereby encouraging citizens to view their government as essentially pursuing some plausible notion of the public interest. Yet the extent to which cost-benefit analysis might fill this trust-building role is an unaddressed issue. Here, I conduct an experiment based on a (de)regulatory action in the environmental context to examine whether cost-benefit analysis might yield trust dividends. I find that cost-benefit analysis produces large increases in public sector trust, but only when paired with reasonableness review, and only among “elites.” This pattern of findings suggests that, without more, an agency declaration of cost justification is not credible, but that it may be made so through a form of reasonableness review. I discuss the contours of such review, and highlight perils if review is overly aggressive.

Do Top Managers’ Individual Characteristics Affect Accounting Manipulation in the Public Sector?

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Anessi-Pessina ◽  
Mariafrancesca Sicilia
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
The Public ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Top Managers

Abstract Drawing on upper echelons theory, the article investigates the potential impact of top managers’ background and demographic characteristics and personality traits on organizational decisions in the public sector. The top-management figure being investigated is the municipal chief financial officer (CFO) and the specific organizational decision under analysis is the extent of revenue misrepresentation during both budget formulation and execution. The empirical setting is provided by the CFOs of Italian municipalities with populations above 15,000 over a 3-year period (2012–14). Financial data are drawn from existing databases. Non-financial data are collected through an online survey. The results show that top managers’ individual characteristics and traits do influence the extent of accounting manipulation. In particular, revenue misrepresentation was found to be smaller in the presence of female managers, managers with degrees in business administration, and managers describing themselves as “conscientious”. These effects on accounting manipulation were moderated by auditors’ and opposition councilors’ oversight, managers’ experience, and the presence of local elections. The article extends upper echelons theory and its applications in several directions: from the private to the public context, from CEOs to CFOs, from managerial decisions in general to accounting choices, and from background and demographic variables to personality traits.

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